The New Black
by chris dee
Summary: Cat—Tales 49: Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Harvey Dent and Claudia Muffington, Could it be the new society trend? Are rogues The New Black?
1. Whining

**The New Black**_  
Chapter 1: Whining_

* * *

_**It was a fine spring day. Nannies, governesses, children, and officers all promenaded through the Summer Garden in St Petersburg. The officers discussed their friend Hermann spending all his nights glumly watching play at the gaming tables without ever joining in. ** _

"I don't believe I'm watching this," Edward Nigma thought, too struck by the mind-bending wrongness of the situation to even word it as a question.

_What was the crumbiest thing Batman had done to him over the years?_ There, worded as a question and a question worth asking: What was the very worst thing the Bat had ever done? the lowest of the low? the most diabolical, sadistic and mean?

This.

Russian opera.

_The Queen of Spades. _Best anagram that he'd come up with since the usher tore his ticket: HE-FOP NEEDS A QUEST. It was an opera by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (KITTY HELP IS VERY CHIC…OAK, he was still working on that one) based on a short story by Aleksandr Pushkin (DARK PLAN HE SINKS U).

_**Hermann appeared and revealed the reason for his gloom: he was in love - passionately but hopelessly, since he was poor and the object of his desire was noble and out of his reach. He rejected his friend's cheerful suggestion that another woman would do just as well.**_

The official excuse was a business trip, "Bruce Wayne was away on business." Whether he really had a Wayne Tech deal in London running a few days longer than expected, or if he was tied up (literally, one hoped) in Nepal or Mongolia – or maybe the third moon of Sirius-4, that was anybody's guess. But whatever the reason, he wasn't available to use his box at the opera, and Selina didn't want to go alone.

Of course, that didn't mean Eddie had to go with her. But when she'd called with the invitation, he realized that he missed her. They didn't get together like they used to. And besides, he'd given her a nasty conk in the head the night of the Gotham Post party. Mind controlled or not, real friends made up for that kind of thing.

* * *

Despite his lingering anger, Batman calmly removed the buckle and several metal cylinders from his utility belt and placed each in the Watchtower's trans-spectral decontamination pod with methodical precision. Knowing that each object should be isolated by a four-inch perimeter to avoid any reflective-recontamination, he resigned himself to a second and possibly a third round of treatments. He still had to decontaminate the batcuffs, two batarangs, and his chest emblem.

"The chamber could be twice the size without drawing any more power from the system," he noted acidly. "I'll have Wayne Tech send up the appropriate equipment next week."

"Is that really necessary?" Superman noted mildly.

"Forty-five minutes instead of fifteen, Clark. Maybe your time isn't that valuable but mine is. There are other things I could be doing right now."

"I meant is it necessary to decontaminate at all. It was magic, Bruce."

"No, the Dhumavati Priestess _thought_ it was magic, but it behaved like radiation, it _burned_ like radiation, and that 'chalice' looked like some kind of primitive alpha emitter. Yesterday's 'magic' is today's 'science.'"

"It knocked me back—"

"Not every force that affects you is magic, Clark."

"You still think that cat's eye on the chalice was kryptonite?"

"I plan to analyze the fragments," he grunted. "I'll let you know."

Superman nodded, then chuckled.

"Cat's eye kryptonite," he mused. "Boy _that_ would have made for a fascinating subplot once upon a time. How is Selina anyway?"

Batman stared coldly.

"She's at the opera," he said flatly.

* * *

It had to be said, Eddie admitted reluctantly, if you _ had_ to go to the opera, this was the way to do it. Selina, absolutely _ stunning_ in a strapless evening dress, displaying the creamiest shoulders in existence, was there _with him_. No man, however platonic a friend, could be completely immune to that ego boost. The back half of the box was a little anteroom with a standing order from the bar. Waynes, it seemed, didn't wait in line like the hoi polloi at intermission. They had two glasses of champagne delivered to their box before the show and at each act break.

Plus it was a rich crowd. The opening night of the first opera of the season. The best of the best, wearing their best. While Riddler hadn't left any clues for tonight's event, there was nothing to stop him making plans for the future… These people in the boxes didn't buy a ticket for a single show. They'd be in these same seats for the next opening, and the next, and the next, season after season and decade after decade. They'd leave their subscriptions to their kids, right along with the jewels they wore. It made a good link for a crime spree, an unseen link connecting a seemingly random series of victims. Any given opera would yield a thousand possibilities for clues. …Of course, while the victims would seem random to the police, to Batman (a.k.a. Bruce Wayne - lifetime season box holder for the Gotham Metropolitan Opera) the connection between the victims would be easier to spot. Would it be too easy? That was the first question mark to address.

And since old Hermann was still moaning, melodically and in Russian, about his doomed love life, Riddler turned his attention to the audience. Wayne had the best box, of course, the shit. Some ancestor probably built the damn opera house. Another night, Bruce Wayne himself would be sitting where Eddie was, Selina beside him, the lucky bastard, and then any guests they invited to join them – the box could accommodate up to three more couples… While a duel with Bruce Wayne would be a pleasure, taking on Selina that way was unthinkable. So much for Box #1. Nigma lifted his opera glasses and tuned his attention to the next …

He started. In the next box over, a similar pair of opera glasses were trained _on him._ It was that Richard Flay character. There were others in the box with him, but all Eddie saw was Flay. They seemed to run into each other whenever he ventured into one of these society shindigs, and given the interest Flay always showed in him, breaking into the guy's house in the middle of the night did not seem like a good idea. _"Edward how divine, you've finally come to see my art collection!"_ No. And kidnapping would be even worse. Flay could have very different ideas about what constituted a suitable ransom and might be all too willing to pay it. (He didn't even want to _think_ about what the 'Stockholm Syndrome' might lead to.) Nigma moved his gaze beyond Flay's box into the next…

Again he started. Again opera glasses were pointed at him – along with a bejeweled finger. Eddie recognized the woman doing the pointing; she was hard to forget. Claudia something-or-other Muffington. She'd gone to the Gotham Post party, she'd gone as Poison Ivy, she'd met Harvey Dent, and apparently he wasn't holding the leafy bustier against her because he was sitting right there next to her. In fact, Harvey was pointing too, now, pointing straight at Eddie -or possibly at Selina –at the very least at their box, and whispering something into Claudia's large ruby earrings that made her smile.

Hm.

* * *

..: Where are you? :.. the harsh no-nonsense Oracle voice demanded on the com.

Nightwing glanced around the laboratory. He didn't see any kind of shielding that would interfere with the OraCom's tracking capabilities. He saw cages, rabbits, foxes, and monkeys.. They did medical research. There were no radiation chambers or lead housing, nothing that would mess with the OraCom. And even if there had been, having seen him go into the building and not come out, it didn't exactly require Holmesian deductive skills to figure out he was still in there.

"Stand by," Nightwing said brusquely, and then returned his attention to the night staff, a combination guard/caretaker who was still shaken from the break in. Wing had begun by treating the man like a fellow professional, a security guard who had interrupted some radical student group breaking in to Free The Animals! and had simply done his job. But first impressions were deceiving: The "security guard" didn't consider himself any such thing. He was the guy who came in at night and kept an eye on the animals. The idea of _people_ breaking into the lab never occurred to him. It's not like they did the kind of research anyone would object to. Twelve years they never had a bit of trouble. That brought Wing's attention back to the "radical students" who, it turned out, were no such thing. They were burglars, plain and simple, trying to steal the monkeys not free them, and for money not a cause, probably 10,000 a pop.

Wing did his best to calm the caretaker, understandably shaken by his first contact with real criminality, but who had confronted it very bravely and protected the animals in his care. In other circumstances, if it was a seasoned guard watching the perps, he would have left knowing the police would be by to collect the culprits within the hour. But seeing that this was a shaken civilian, he stayed. While they waited, he learned the guard's name was Paul, he'd lived twenty years in Gotham before moving to Bludhaven, and this was the first he'd ever seen of a costumed vigilante. He asked what Batman was like.

Thirty minutes later, Nightwing left the lab with the sour aftertaste of a lie still clinging to his tongue. He'd said Batman was a stand-up guy, which was true enough, that Gotham was lucky to have him, also true enough, and then, asked point blank what it was like to work with the Dark Knight Detective, Nightwing said it's an honor and a privilege.

Listlessly he clicked on the OraCom, knowing one of those with whom he shared the honor was about to flog him with it.

..: Wing, Where the hell are you? You don't put me on standby for 45 minutes without a check in. :..

He pointed out the tracker Oracle kept on everyone except Batman, and that she should have no trouble seeing exactly where he was.

..: I know how my system works, :.. she said acidly. ..: I meant where are you _on the case_, because if it's nothing crucial, come home. :..

"Something wrong?"

..: I'm going to throw my computer out the window, :.. she said flatly.

Nightwing said nothing. He knew the frustration level in Gotham was climbing by the day. That's why he'd been turning his attention more and more to Bludhaven. Barbara and Tim were plenty sore about it, but Bruce seemed to respect it. For all the new protocols and procedure checks he was pressing on the others, he was talking to Dick more and more like an equal.

"Roger, O. I can call it a night. Should I bring anything?"

..: Yes. Sledgehammer. For the parts that won't go out the window. :..

"How about a hot fudge sundae, like old times," he suggested. "Pretend you beat me at foozball."

..: Argh, you had to bring that up. Do you know what he did to Robin and Batgirl? :..

Nightwing tuned it out. He could be as critical of Bruce as the next man, and he had no love of Zogger, but he was sick of everyone complaining about 'doing their homework' essentially. The bottom line was: training _was_ important. _Discipline_ was important. This was life and death stuff, not PsychoBat going psycho for no good reason. He'd done plenty of Zogger in his day, twice a month like clockwork and extra sessions when Bruce was worked up about Catwoman. Did he whine and complain about it? Hell no, Alfred wouldn't hear of it for one thing. "If you are no longer amenable to the demands of the vocation you have chosen," Dick could imagine him saying, "It is certainly best that you reconsider the decision now."

He stopped at the all night Dairy Queen closest to the condo, bought a hot fudge sundae and a banana split for himself, and headed home.

* * *

By the end of Act I, Eddie decided that Hermann's romantic failures had less to do with his finances and more to do with his whining. Since the lights were coming up for intermission, Eddie shared this thought with Selina.

"Let's say for a minute his little scheme works out," he began excitedly. "It can't because he wants to talk to the Countess at the masked ball, and no scheme hatched at_ a masked ball _is going to work; even a newbie should know that much. But let's put that aside and say it does. Let's say he lucks out and Countess whatsherdress tells him her magic secret for winning at the gaming tables. He wins a fortune, buys himself a commission and a title, social position, all the bells and whistles. He _still_ won't get the girl, you know why?"

"Because he whines?" Selina said, picking up his rhythm.

"Because he whines," Eddie pronounced. "Not just to his friends, but right there on whatshername's balcony. He stood right there in front of the lady he professes to love and he whined about it."

"Sang," Selina corrected. "It's called an aria."

"It's called being a whiny little priss. No woman worth having would put up with that."

"He declared his love," Selina pointed out. "What would you have him do, just keep quiet and never tell her?"

"Might be for the best," Eddie said with quiet resolve.

"Then he'll never know if he had a chance."

"He _doesn't_ have a chance… It's an opera."

Selina laughed.

"They don't all end badly, you know," she said, smiling.

"A _Russian_ opera," Eddie countered.

"Point," she conceded. "Come on, let's stretch our legs, see and be seen."

"An opening night at the Gotham Opera," he said with a gleam in his eye. "Promenade behind the dress circle and the private boxes you have to inherit from God. Socialites and the climbers trying to impress them… What do you call a target rich environment, eh Lina?"

"Meow," she answered with a grin.

* * *

The Dhumavati cult which devoted itself to the Seventh Aspect of the Goddess, personifying the destruction of the world by fire when only smoke from its ashes would remain, had been a little confused in its iconography. In Hindu tradition, the Goddess's vehicle was a lion. But the prevalent image in the cult's temple and weaponry, as well as the death maze where they trapped Batman and Superman, was a tiger. The maze itself was based on a quatrain in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, where a royal hunting lodge had fallen into ruin and been reclaimed by the tigers that had once been prey.

The tigers in this case, meant to tear Batman, a weakened Superman, and any other intruders to shreds, had been undernourished and enraged by electrical shocks from jeweled collars. Once the greater threat of the Dhumavati's Fire Cyclone was neutralized, Superman brought in a team from Star Labs to take control of the base, including the death maze – and the tigers. The specialists were able to render immediate aid on site, but once the preliminaries were completed, the team leader had been very clear: Star Labs had neither the facilities nor the expertise to care for six Bengal tigers, and the animals' treatment in captivity made them poor candidates for a wildlife sanctuary.

Now, with twenty minutes still to go before the decontamination cycle was finished and Batman could get the hell out of the Watchtower and back to Gotham where he belonged, Superman was back with printouts. Photos of each of the tigers, health profiles, details of their living conditions with the Dhumavati cult.

"Just tell her about it, Bruce, that's all I ask."

"Selina is a fairly intelligent woman, Clark. You think she won't have a pretty good idea what happened when she sees the claw and bite marks in the body armor – not to mention my thigh."

"But once she hears how they were mistreated, not having enough food, and those electrodes in the collars… She already has a preserve, I'm sure she'd be willing to take them in."

"Clark, may I remind you that when you found out I was seeing Selina Kyle, you, J'onn and Arthur came to me full of dire warnings about ramifications for the League. You dismissed my perfectly just observation that it was none of your damn business, and exacted my personal oath that my involvement with the 'criminal who had a history of breaking into this very facility' would never affect the Justice League."

"Well… Yes, Bruce, but c'mon, that was a long time ago and Selina is—"

"And now, you want to use that very involvement you made such an issue of to make me your _errand boy_, show her some sappy photos of the poor malnourished cats so she'll take them in and solve a League problem for you—"

"Bruce!" Superman cut him off. "She's _Catwoman_, they're _tigers_, she _has a preserve_? What's the problem here?"

The batscowl shifted but didn't soften.

"If you want anything from Selina, you should ask her yourself and leave me out of it."

"Okay," Superman said gingerly. "Consider this the 'advance notice' you're accustom to that I'll be coming into Gotham tomorrow."

"You could always telephone," Batman observed sourly.

"I could, but asking is better in person."

"Just leave my name out of it," Bruce repeated.

* * *

Eddie might have found Hermann a more sympathetic character in Act II as he became gripped by an obsession that would destroy his only chance at love, but Eddie was now gripped by an obsession of his own. A puzzle had presented itself at intermission, and he was no longer watching the opera at all.

Harvey Dent was taking Claudia Reisweiller-Muffington to the Iceberg Lounge after the show. They'd clearly assumed Selina and Eddie would be going there as well, and Claudia (who Harvey had actually called "Muffy" with a straight face) seemed to be maneuvering to "make it a foursome." …As it happened, Eddie _had_ been debating if he should suggest a drink and a nibble after the opera, but if he did, he was thinking somewhere a short walk from the opera house. Not going all the way down at the Iceberg!

Once Harvey and "Muffy" disappeared into the crowd, Eddie turned to feel out Selina on the situation – when he saw she'd been shanghaied by that Ashton-Larraby woman (Harley Quinn at the Gotham Post party, and twice as nuts as the original in Eddie's opinion), so Eddie turned back – only to be met by that too-friendly and too well-dressed Richard Flay. In desperation, Eddie had struck up a conversation with the first person he could grab. He couldn't place her, but she looked familiar and he said so. He thought maybe he knew her from the Gotham Post party where he'd seen most of these people last. But no, the woman – whose name was Penelope Vraag, she said, and that _did_ ring a bell – recognized him just fine and she knew exactly where she knew him from. No, not from the Post party or the MOMA opening before that. He had – VRAAG! Of course, it was Dutch for "Question!" – He had _kidnapped her cousin_ six years ago.

And then, before he could come up with an anagram for awkward coincidence (ID WON A CRACKED WINCE), she asked if he was enjoying the opera.

It wasn't Edward Nigma's first encounter with that level of well-mannered breeding that bordered on Arkhamesque disconnect from reality, but it was the most striking.

He told Penelope Vraag, whose cousin he had kidnapped six years ago, that he was enjoying the music immensely but he thought the woman singing Lisa was a bit off. He figured after that, having demonstrated her unshakable composure in making polite chit-chat with that awful villain she was so unfortunate as to run into, she would now turn her back on him and disappear from his life forever.

Except she _didn't_. She agreed about Lisa, praised his critical ear, and mused about the staging spectacles to come for the masked ball. She stood there, chatting with him quite casually through the whole intermission. She never got around to the _horrified shunning_. Her manner remained poised, agreeable and kind of… flirty.

* * *

"Oh man, you are so whipped," Tim blurted when Nightwing came through the window performing 'the old coolant bag wrapped around a nested bowl to keep the hot fudge sundae intact coming up the flyline trick.'

Nightwing took in the scene before answering. Tim and Cassie, in costume but unmasked, sat in his living room apparently talking to Barbara, who sat with a laptop propped on an endtable, with an OraCom video window open on the screen.

Nightwing answered Tim's satisfied smirk with a hard, dead batstare, and then pointed. "She's my _wife_," he announced emphatically.

Barbara giggled, delighted, and sent Cassie to get extra spoons from the kitchen. Nightwing removed his mask. And when Cassie returned, Barbara pointed like a hostess at a dinner party indicating where each guest would sit. Cassie, it was decreed, would share Dick's sundae and Tim would share hers.

"None for you," she said to her computer screen – and only then did Dick notice it was Huntress in the video window, on a wrist-com judging by the angle, and under the 10th Avenue Bridge judging by the background.

"So anyway," Tim said as if resuming an earlier complaint, "These 'full reports weekly instead of fractured updates,' what does that even mean?"

"It means instead of just copy/pasting your log entries, take the five minutes to make it into a real report," Dick answered automatically.

Tim stared.

"Well, yeah, okay. But what about the internal links in the logs. I'm not going to put footnotes and a bibliography in my log entries."

"When you encounter a weapon we haven't seen before," Dick said firmly, "It is _worth_ the_ ten minutes_ it takes to check and see if it's commercially made, and link the entry to that info. It could be damn important for finding the guy and maybe ultimately linking him to a crime. If it's _not_ commercially made, then it's doubly important, because I for one like to know what I'm up against out there. If Victor Frieze came up with something new, I'd rather know now before it's _pointed at my head_."

Tim said nothing. He looked silently at Cassie and then at Barbara.

"Guess I should go," he said quietly.

The meeting quietly broke up. Tim murmured a sheepish "Sorry, Bro" before he left.

Dick turned belligerently to Barbara.

"Is that really a good idea, getting everybody together to bitch about Bruce?"

She sighed.

"C'mon Dick, you can't say he's been exactly reasonable since the whole Ivy thing. 'Things have gotten too lax, and things are starting to get missed. We should have seen X,Y and Z coming way before we did,'" she mimicked. "Like anybody could _predict_ a crooked Coast Guard officer giving her boyfriend the slip number of the_ wrong boat_ that was smuggling in drugs for the Marzettis instead of diamonds for Cobblepot."

"Maybe not, but with all that goes on in this city on any given day, it doesn't do any harm to take a closer look."

"As long as I'm looking at the right thing!" Barbara snapped. "In keeping with the dictates of Operation _Know-Everything,_ I found something I thought was noteworthy: Opera season opens tonight. Know what they're doing? The Queen of Spades. As in a playing card. I point this out and Bruce bites my head off."

"Because Joker and Harley are safely up the river?" Dick asked, wincing.

"Because they're both in Arkham, yeah, and because he already knew."

"I'd guess so. He is on the board, he's got the best box in the opera house, and I think some great aunt or somebody founded the opera guild."

"Fine. So he knew," Barbara finished listlessly. "It's still no reason to bite my head off."

"No, it's not," Dick agreed, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry you had a bad night, Babs."

She stretched and then settled into his embrace.

"Bytes has a new trick," she muttered, settling down into more trivial complaints. "He crawls between the keyboard and the side monitor, curls up and takes a nap."

"The fiend," Dick laughed.

"He gets fur and cat fluff in my keyboard," Barbara countered.

"The diabolical fiend," Dick added with dramatic flare.

Barbara started laughing too, but continued her complaints.

"Then he'll stretch out and push the keyboard into the OraCom."

"The fiendish, Mephistophelean devil!" Dick declared.

By now both were laughing stridently, waking Bytes, who hopped into the middle of the merriment and started chewing on Nightwing's discarded mask.

* * *

Eddie had a theory, and Hermann had pulled a pistol on the Countess, frightening her to death before learning her secret – which meant that Act II was nearing its conclusion. So he pulled Selina into the anteroom in the back of the Wayne box to share his thoughts before the lights came up for the second intermission.

"Bruce Wayne with Catwoman," he began grimly. "Claudia Muffington with Harvey Two-Face Dent. Seeing a pattern here? Because _they_ are. We're gonna be the new fad, like those rat dogs the fashionistas were dressing up last year."

"Eddie," Selina breathed philosophically, "shall we discuss how many rules you've just broken before I toss you out of the box and into the orchestra pit?"

"No no no," he shook his head frantically. "I didn't say a word about bats, did I? I said Catwoman and Bruce Wayne, there's no rule about that—"

"And the rat dogs?" Selina interrupted, raising a dangerous eyebrow. "I was likened to a toy poodle, Eddie."

"Bad example. What if I said you're a… oh what do they call those big silk scarves with the—never mind. Point is, Bruce Wayne and Catwoman, Muffy Whatshername and Two-Face, that Ashton-Nutcase giving a rogue party, Richard Flay chases me from the caviar to the foie gras every time I come to these things, now this Penelope Vraag is ready to forgive and forget my _ kidnapping_ her _cousin_. Don't you get it, we're the big new thing, the restaurant you have to get into before anyone else, the accessory you can't do without. Selina, we're 'the new black.'"

"Pfft. Eddie really. You can't throw a stone around here without hitting someone whose mother, sister, or neighbor didn't have a safe, a painting, or a party that I went for at some point. None of them ever made an issue of it, and I guarantee it's not because Gladys Ashton-Larraby wants to get into my tights."

He considered this for a moment, then, as the music died down and the lights came up, he shook his head, unconvinced.

"No, I still say something is up and I'm going to prove it," he declared. "I'm going to tell Harv and 'Muffy' that we'll go to the Iceberg with them after all. I'll do it loud enough that word will get around—"

"No," Selina objected. "I brought my suit, I'm prowling after the show."

Eddie pursed his lips slightly, not quite liking the announcement, or the way it was phrased, coming from Selina. _Prowling after the show_, it sounded so… batty.

"You don't have to come," he assured her. "I'm just saying that we're going to see what happens. I bet I have three dates to go in your place by the time Lisa throws herself in the river."

Selina shrugged, and the door to the box opened. Behind the young man bringing their champagne, a conspicuous mass of satin and sequins hovered just outside. Selina noted Claudia Muffington, Bunny Wigglesworth, Binky Sherborn and Penelope Vraag, all positioned just a little too casually where someone coming out of the Wayne box couldn't help but notice them.

"AW BLENT HECK" Eddie said confidently.

"Maybe," Selina sighed.

* * *

…to be continued…


	2. The Direct Approach

**The New Black**_  
Chapter 2: The Direct Approach_

* * *

"Yes," Joker declared with calm satisfaction, "It's a good thing I'm here to help you get back to normal… Ha… with fava beans and a nice chianti."

It was the killer closing line. "Dr Bart" would look thwarted and frustrated, the studio audience would laugh, the closing jingle would kick in as the credits started to roll. Except this wasn't a situation comedy, this was Leland Bartholomew's life. He'd just faced its final moments. He had done so without a flinch – but without any real satisfaction either. The whole thing, from learning to read to losing his virginity, from his first day at Arkham to the Barefoot Contessa, had flashed before his eyes. And_ it really wasn't much!_

But his life _hadn't_ ended after he mouthed off at Joker, and now every day was a gift. He'd be damned if he would let anything as foolish as a young girl's green, self-important posturing ruin the best thing that ever happened to him, even if that best thing happened to be her. So, at the end of his shift, he stopped at Roxy Rocket's cell, judging her to be the least psychotic of his patients. With the directness of a mental health professional who knew coy games and half-truths about one's desires were a trap that only impeded real communication, he came straight to the point: He wanted precise directions to the Iceberg Lounge. Roxy was more than helpful, suggesting he park his car at the 11th Street lot and informing him that Mark would be on the door tonight. If Bartholomew had any trouble getting in, Roxy said, he should use her name.

Two hours later, after remembering how to secure his little-used Club to the steering wheel and activating the car alarm (which he doubted anyone would pay attention to this far downtown), Bartholomew walked up to Mark the doorman, introduced himself the way no one would ever introduce themselves to a doorman, and said he was there to see Raven –and also that Roxy Rocket had sent him. Mark thought the guy was odd, but you didn't turn folks away from the Iceberg Lounge for being odd. For being lowbrow, badly dressed, uncool or cops, yes. But odd, odd was almost a prerequisite.

So Bartholomew was admitted. He set off down the long entrance corridor his patients had often described. It was "themed" like a tunnel cut through a mountain of ice – until you came to the inexplicable hole in the ice tunnel where you could check your coat and/or rent an umbrella. There, Bartholomew saw Harvey Dent, who had apparently undergone the finest plastic surgery imaginable, and Edward Nigma. Both were checking very costly furs that must be connected to the two conspicuously well-dressed women standing at Raven's podium. Bartholomew coughed a vague greeting at Dent and Nigma, and then walked resolutely up to Raven.

* * *

Nightwing had been hatted before; it wasn't anything like this. Before, when it happened as Robin, he was completely unaware until he "woke up" with Batgirl in a headlock and one of her yellow gloves clenched between his teeth – and just how it came to be there nobody would ever tell him.

But this, this was different. He knew where he was: on the north side of the Wayne property, at the little gardener's shed he'd declared "Fort Grayson" when he was a kid. He knew what he was doing: he was walking from the shed towards the kitchen. And he knew he was being controlled: when he reached the kitchen, he was going to take Alfred's elevator down to the Batcave and sit in Bruce's chair. He couldn't help himself; it was this hat, this hat scraping at his head… pawing at his hair. Tiny little points of … pointy…in his hair… hats don't have pointy—"NO!" Dick yelled, sitting up in bed and swatting the cat off his pillow with an angry swipe.

"What now," Barbara grumbled into her pillow.

"Nothing. Nightmare," Dick said reassuringly.

There was no answer. She was already asleep – if she'd actually woken up at all. The cat, Bytes, hopped back on the bed and Dick rolled over, first blaming the cat for his nightmare and then realizing it was probably the other way around. The dream had come first and Bytes pawing woke him from it… A dream about being hatted, that was a new one… Funny how he never noticed before how much Tetch's hat looked like Bruce's cowl… especially when the little antennae came up, just like Bat ears, to control… your…evry…

Dick's eyes snapped open and he stared blankly at the bedroom wall.

Then he sat up and stared just as blankly at a different wall.

"You PsychoBat Control Freak Son of a…" he growled quietly.

"What now," Barbara grumbled into her pillow.

"Nothing. Nightmare," Dick lied reassuringly.

* * *

Rogues were no strangers to overblown melodrama. The Iceberg itself had been the stage for more than one scene that made the Gotham Opera look tame. More often though, the Iceberg was where the players came afterwards, to alternately boast and complain about triumphs and reversals in their private affairs and Bat-bashing battles. Socialites were no strangers to "drama" either, although theirs tended to be more restrained, coded in subtle, well-mannered asides, incomprehensible to outsiders but just as thrilling to those in the know.

Since each of the Dent-Muffington-Nigma-Vraag foursome were knowing connoisseurs of such episodes, they pretended not to notice as Leland Bartholomew pushed past them to reach Raven's podium. They pretended not to hear as he said he had to talk to her, _immediately_ and _privately_, on a_ very personal matter_. And finally, when Raven blushed and sputtered very poor excuses for not wanting to speak to him (or indeed ever see him again), they exchanged meaningful glances and showed themselves to a table. It happened to be Two-Face's old table, situated closer to the podium than Eddie's regular booth. They couldn't hear, but they could see quite well.

"Wish I could read lips like Bats," Harvey said casually.

Eddie shot him a sharp sideways glare. He was just as interested in whatever Bart was saying so emphatically to Raven – especially since Raven was clearly being swayed – but referring so pointedly to "Bats" in front of their new lady friends seemed in very bad taste. At least it did to him. Neither woman seemed to think so. Claudia was positively curling around Harvey's arm and Penelope was looking excitedly around the room. Eddie shifted his sour look from Harvey back to Bartholomew. He was gesturing with his hands now…looked like pleading… and Raven looked ready to either kiss him or burst into tears. Doris had never looked that way when Eddie was reduced to pleading. He did wonder what on earth Dr. Bart could be saying to get that kind of reaction.

* * *

The Batboat made a final pass through the Gotham Yacht Club. Inside, Batman scowled. He was more angered by that one miserable smuggling case than the rest of the month's crimes combined. The fact that someone's boat – Truckston and Samantha Blakeley's yacht as it happened – had been used for criminal purposes without their knowledge. He knew the Blakeleys. Hell, Samantha had spent two years trying to fix Bruce Wayne up with their daughter Kate. He was there the night Richard Flay recommended a resort in the Keys where the Blakeleys had wintered every year since, and where, on this last trip, some lowlife in the marina had slipped onto their boat and stowed 600 kilos of heroine in their engine room.

It was bad enough as a disgusting criminal enterprise to smuggle drugs into his city. The fact that it went down at the yacht club only made it worse. He'd lost nearly an hour at the Watchtower. All he'd wanted after that was to get back to Gotham and get in a full night's patrol. Gotham was his priority. It always was. It always would be. No Dhumavati cult and no business with Superman or the League would ever be allowed to usurp it. But checking the yacht club – and he did have to check it now that this new avenue for smuggling had been exposed – required the Batboat. So, as soon as he got back to the cave, he'd bypassed the Batmobile hangar, bypassed Alfred ready to make a fuss over the tiger punctures in his body armor, and took out the boat. Three or four nights a week now he made this pass so that no one got any ideas. The Marzettis and the Cobblepots, the Coast Guard, the marina workers, and everyone else would know that Batman was keeping an eye on the river, on the harbor, on the marina and on the yachts.

* * *

Sandwich Night was a tradition in the Kent household. When Clark or Lois mentioned it at the office, the impression was that it was a regular weekly event: three nights a week Clark cooked dinner, three nights Lois cooked, and one night they both took it easy and made sandwiches together. Those close enough to the couple to know of Lois's cooking made a different assumption: four nights a week Clark cooked, one night they ordered in, one night they ate out, and one night: sandwiches.

The truth was Clark made dinner every night he was available, but when demands on Superman kept him occupied for much of the evening while still allowing him to return home before Lois had eaten, she preferred he make up for lost time in a different way. Rather than waste time cooking, they had a quick sandwich and after the meal, she enjoyed "the super foot-rub."

It was when he finished the third toe on her left foot that he casually mentioned Gotham.

"Because I'm flying through tomorrow for a quick word with Selina, so if you want me to bring anything…" he gave the toe a playful wiggle. "… like those bagels?"

"Ooh, from that place?" Lois grinned happily. "What was it called?"

"Pola's."

"Right."

It was the one subject where they both agreed Bruce was right: you couldn't get real Gotham bagels anywhere except Gotham. Some said it was the water, others the hands of the bakers, but everyone agreed there was no way to reproduce it –even with the molecular replicator at the Watchtower, which Wally had tried on four separate occasions and found equally inadequate on Pola's bagels, Lombardi's pizza, Nathan's hot dogs, and hot pastrami from Katz's Deli.

Clark moved on to the next toe, using his X-ray vision to pinpoint the tension and went to work.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"From Gotham? Yes. The byline."

Clark paused the massage, and Lois tilted her head at a very marital "you know very well what I mean" angle.

"The byline," she repeated. "Because tonight's festivities were not a full League outing, it was just you and Batman. Now you're off to Gotham tomorrow — for 'a quick word with Selina'? For a quick little meddle in Bruce's private life, am I right? Which sooner or later is going to erupt into _something _that someone's getting a Pulitzer Prize for covering. And I don't want your name on that story, Clark, because they go alphabetically at the awards ceremony. I will not sit there at the head table in some gorgeous accepting-my-second-Pulitzer evening gown and hear them read_ your name first_ for covering a national disaster that _you caused_."

Clark gave a soft sigh and silently moved on to the next toe.

"Right, bagels and a byline," he said at last, resuming his usual at-home manner with a touch more charm, which always disarmed Lois and let them proceed to less controversial topics. But internally, his mind chewed on her comments. First Bruce, now Lois. Was there really an obvious minefield there that everybody could see but him?

* * *

Although they had seated themselves, figures of Edward Nigma and Harvey Dent's stature in the underworld could not enter the Iceberg Lounge unnoticed. There was a buzz in the room when they were recognized, a buzz Claudia and Penelope recognized, the buzz that greeted visiting royalty. It was the charged thrill that rippled through the room when Robert DeNiro walked into Nobu, Donald Trump walked into Megu or Bruce Wayne walked into d'Annunzio's, when even Vraags and Muffingtons congratulated themselves for choosing this restaurant on this night.

Both women had turned a fair share of heads in their day, cameras clicked and flashed as they exited limos and made their way down the red carpet, but neither had ever experienced this.

Eddie said the chaps in the blue and white (who were pointing like they just saw Paul McCartney) were Ghost Dragons and answered to King Snake, big guy in the back – oh it looks like he's not there at the moment – Very big in the Hong Kong drug trade. Always sits with his back to the wall since he and Oswald aren't the best of friends.

Neither had ever experienced this. Those flashing cameras pulled away from Vraags and Muffingtons when a Bruce Wayne or Paris Hilton arrived. But this, this was the top tier. This was being Bruce or Paris. They were the ones everyone had broken off their conversations to stare at.

Harvey said the other bunch in matching outfits were DEMONs. Perhaps the ladies had heard of the famous Ra's al Ghul (they hadn't)… Ah, well, they haven't missed much, Harvey assured them. In any case, those guys (who were pointing like they just saw Ringo Staar) were DEMONs and they worked for Ra's al Ghul.

It was thrilling. Both women slid expertly into that Queen of the Room mode they'd seen so many others do over the years. Penelope told Eddie to call her Penny. Claudia, who had already told Harvey to call her Muffy, rubbed her foot against his under the table. It was that taste of The Life she'd gotten a hint of at the Post party when she'd dressed as Poison ivy, a taste of the life she'd always wanted and it solidified…as Harvey's foot pressed back into hers with gratifying warmth… the whole idea of befriending these rogues was the perfect move.

* * *

The sweeps through the yacht club did put a dent in his late patrol (tonight his _only_ patrol) in the Batmobile, but that couldn't be helped. He could live with that part as a necessary trade-off if only… damn her… Each pass through the yacht club brought him into contact with the _Gatta_. _La Gatta Mobile_, the yacht he'd named for Selina. The yacht he'd _ bought_ for Selina if he was honest about it. The yacht he'd purchased not as foppish camouflage for Batman, but for Bruce to take Selina on impromptu getaways whenever Gotham was quiet. Gotham _had_ been quiet and she'd wanted to take just such a trip to "rest up" after the episode with Poison Ivy, but he wouldn't hear of it… He lost control with Ivy _AND_ he lost control letting Selina into that safe in the Batcave. It was too late on that one. Now she knew the safe existed, Catwoman knew about a safe she hadn't known of before. It was done; it was out of his hands. But he could still reestablish control over the rest of Batman's… Damn her.

The _other_ problem with the pass through the yacht club was: it was preemptory. It would _deter_ crime, but it almost never _encountered_ any. Try as he might to keep his mind on his work, there wasn't that much to occupy it. It would drift here and there, and every time it did, there was that boat. _La Gatta Mobile_. Selina.

He reminded himself for the 10,000th time that _he_ put the gold bar in the safe to begin with. He reminded himself for the 10,000th time that it was necessary: he was under Ivy's control, he didn't have a lot of options. He reminded himself… and then he stopped the mental recitation. Even PsychoBat was sick of hearing it.

* * *

Bat out of Hell III.

This  
Kicked  
Ass

Maybe not a _title_ Tim could really embrace at the moment, especially with songs like _'Blind as a Bat'_ and _'Seize the Night'_ in there. But it was _Meat Loaf_, über dramatic rock opus maestro Meat Loaf, with a new CD, the long awaited third installment of a killer trilogy and it ROCKED! That's not something you let a few rounds of Zogger or some log entry protocols ruin for you. Tim just started to check the download for Track 1: _The Monster Is Loose_ when the phone rang.

"'Ello," he said as a wicked guitar kicked in and he reluctantly turned down the volume.

..: Hey, Bro. Didn't get you up, did I? :..

"Nah, I'm downloading music. Bat outta Hell, baby. Just out last week."

..: _-secure line engaged-_ Wonder what Bat-outta-Cave would say about you bending copyright laws. :..

"Hey, I know you're not with me on this but — Oh cool! He un-Celine'd '_It's All Coming Back To Me Now_' Anyhoo, I know you're not with me, but PsychoBat-outta-Cave is killing me. I need a release. This is it. Don't mess with it."

Through the receiver, Tim heard Dick take a deep breath.

..: Actually, I've been thinking about that. You guys were right. You, Barbara, all of you. I just didn't see it because, well, I think I fell victim to a 'be my own man' protocol. :..

"Whoa."

..: Yeah. :…

"Well… So… What do you want to do now?"

..: I was thinking in the morning, if you're not doing anything, maybe we go talk to Selina. :…

* * *

He should return to the cave, type up the log, and try – for the 10,000th time – to forget the whole thing. It wasn't easy. Every time he looked in the direction of the trophy room, the knife twisted in his gut… Two bats hung low over his workstation and even he now thought of the fat one as "Walapang"… He'd go into the costume vault to change and the kimono Selina had given him would be waiting…

That kimono. It's as if there was no part of his world that she hadn't touched. "Why go to all that trouble to change back into Bruce Wayne's shirt and slacks when you're just going to walk upstairs to the bedroom?" So she'd bought him the kimono. Black and slate gray silk, woven in a tight herringbone pattern with black piping. He even liked the colors. It was a gift for _Batman_, a gift that showed an intimate understanding of the most private corners of Batman's life. At the time it unnerved him, and now…

Now she'd been inside the safe.

* * *

Harvey waved two fingers importantly, summoning Sparrow to come take their order. Then he declared "We'd like the special bottle of 22-year old double-malt scotch that Sly keeps behind the bar. Now what are you ladies having?"

The women laughed and Harvey winked at Eddie, who felt vaguely ill. _Question,_ he thought, _What is wrong Harvey? _When Selina had mounted her stage show, Two-Face had gone ballistic thinking she'd "sold out." But now that Harv had his face healed and turned _his_ back on roguery, he seemed perfectly at ease making Two-Face a joke in order to, to… score points with women? "_We'll_ have a scotch, what are you drinking" indeed.

"_EW_ your scotch," Eddie said emphatically, although simply flipping two letters from WE to EW hardly constituted an anagram. Harvey laughed, getting the joke at once, and he explained about the anagrams to the women. Then they laughed (even louder than Harvey had) and more anagrams were called for. Eddie regaled them with the ones he'd devised at the opera, refining Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky into VERY CHIC KITTY HELP IS A-OK and Aleksandr Pushkin into DARK PLAN HE SINK US – the latter becoming plural in deference to Harvey. They loved that little touch and tossed him some "challenges" until the drinks arrived, challenges that he was happy to meet. The women particularly liked his anagramming of their names, and he shrewdly focused on those variations on Penelope Vraag which included the word ANGEL and omitted those involving PORN.

Suddenly, Harvey let out a low whistle, a sound which normally meant some low-level crimefighter such as Azrael or Huntress had entered the nightclub and zany hijinx were about to ensue. Exactly what happened prior to the whistle Eddie didn't see, but immediately afterwards Raven ran tearfully towards the ladies' room.

* * *

Batman didn't go home to the cave. He summoned the Batmobile on autopilot, sent the Batboat home the same way, and hit the streets for an abbreviated patrol. With all the theme criminals except Riddler incarcerated at the moment, and no Riddler clues pending, Batman focused on those parts of town that were likely criminal targets due to a concentration of wealth rather than the presence of comedy clubs, greenhouses or aviaries.

Unfortunately, that meant a significant overlap with Catwoman's "territory," and a corresponding likelihood that they might run into each other once he left the car and took to the rooftops. Bruce didn't want to feel he was avoiding her, but he would have been happier, for the time being, seeing her at home and out of costume, where he wouldn't have to be reminded that she could break into a safe the way other people open a kitchen cabinet or that cat's eye kryptonite "would have made a fascinating subplot once upon a time."

Damn her —and damn Clark.

They _had_ come to him when they found out he was dating Selina Kyle. They had _concerns_ about the 'criminal who had a history of breaking into this very facility'—they didn't want Catwoman pawing their stuff… Okay. Not really. He knew that wasn't really their complaint, but that's the way he was inclined to see it right now.

And he wasn't avoiding her. He loved her. She made him happy. She saved him from Ivy. She was swinging off the fire escape of the Sterling Trust… He froze, his conscious mind catching up with his inner monologue, which had already caught up with his eyes scanning the horizon. He froze, waiting to see which way the graceful purple form was moving, if it was a coincidence or—no, she was heading right towards him. She'd seen him.

Damn.

As she got closer, he could see the smile. She was smiling. She was happy to see him.

Damn.

* * *

With no one but henchmen, groupies, tourists, and Ghost Dragons frequenting the Iceberg these days, Oswald had taken more and more to passing the evening in his office. He wasn't about to mingle with a clientele that didn't meet his high standards—kwak. Perhaps if Selina or Hagen returned or if Arkham released a few birds of his own regal feather, then… hello…

Oswald peered onto the small screen that displayed the security footage of the main dining room. Harvey? My, it had been a while. And Nigma was with him—kwak! That was a quorum, a sufficiently high concentration of premium old school rogues to warrant an appearance. And what lovely birds they brought with them—_and all formally dressed_. Well that was encouraging.

At last the nightclub might be emerging from its Hell Month-level slump, and at last the aristocrats of roguery were presenting themselves as such. Oswald pulled a mirror from his desk drawer and preened, as always, before making an appearance. He moistened a finger and straightened his left eyebrow. He reached in the drawer for a clean pair of white gloves. He polished his monocle and buffed the ebony shaft of his cigarette holder before loading a fresh cigarette. He quacked, satisfied, and proceeded into the bar— only to be practically mowed down not three steps outside his office door by Raven rushing tearfully past him and disappearing down the corridor to the rest rooms.

* * *

Dick had set the alarm so he could rendezvous with Tim in the morning and they'd go together to the manor. But despite the early wake-up call, he didn't go back to bed. He took his costume from the closet and pulled one of his longer, sleeker Batarangs from the belt and then sat quietly, contemplating the weapon.

When he became Nightwing, he wouldn't even use Bruce's template for the weapon Bruce himself had designed. He had to come up with his own. He had to break out from under Batman's shadow any way he could and be his own… he paused, bitterly refusing to use _that phrase _no matter how perfectly it summed up the sentiment. He had to break out from Batman's shadow and… _become his own creation_. Hell, all of them on the first Titans team had done it in one way or another. It was their symbolic shift from sidekick to full blown heroes with their own identities and their own personas. What was so wrong with that? Why was it such a mark of immaturity to claim that right? He wanted – no, he needed, to invent himself just as Bruce had done, as Superman had done, as even _Catwoman_ had done! This last thought was prompted by Bytes hopping into his lap and pawing eagerly at the Batarang, so Dick took a break from brooding and went to the kitchen to warm some milk.

Right. So. Like Batman, Superman, and Catwoman, Nightwing invented himself. He had reached a point, even without Batman benching him after the Joker shooting, where he had outgrown the moniker he'd chosen as a twelve-year-old boy. It caused friction, but eventually they'd healed that rift, formed the kind of true partnership that can only exist between equals.

And then for Bruce to pull this. He had gone out of his way to treat Nightwing as a senior crimefighter on his own level just at the same time he rolled out the new procedures and crackdown on bending the old ones. It was a Machiavellian way to get Dick on his side, and it worked. It led him to see the juniors grousing for what it was. It… It was so infuriatingly _Bruce_.

Tim didn't understand, not really. He was bent out of shape about the new protocols. Sure, that was natural. But he didn't see the big picture. He only saw something Bruce was doing _to him_; he didn't see _what Bruce was doing_. The new stuff in the field plus this off-the-scale reemergence of the control freak, something was going on. Something beyond Ivy. Bruce had been greened before, they all had. Nothing like this ever happened afterwards, nothing. Something was wrong.

So he'd ask Selina. She knew Bruce better than anybody and she was in a position to see more than anybody. He wondered if asking Tim along had been a mistake. Their complaints, though similar, were coming from different perspectives and… well, Dick couldn't deny that when he and Tim got into something like this together, they turned into the Katzenjammer Kids. It was like two middle-aged brothers reverting to 12-year-olds at Thanksgiving dinner. But Tim had leapt at the idea when Dick offered, so there was no avoiding it now.

Alfred saw a lot too, albeit not as much as Selina. Dick would ask him a few questions, since he was going to be at the manor anyway. But he knew even now all he'd get in reply was a disapproving Bat-glare and polite inquiry about "Miss Barbara's health." Selina was really the best chance… at least that was his thought before he saw Bytes trotting out of the room with the Batarang in his mouth.

* * *

Claudia "Muffy" Muffington and Penelope "Penny" Vraag were not henchwenches or groupies. You couldn't just order them to run to the powder room and find out what Bart said to Raven.

Harvey and Eddie exchanged looks as Raven ran tearfully past the table. Although personal relationships involving people who wore masks for a living could not be construed as "normal" in any sense of the word, some things were universal: _All_ men know when the shit has hit the fan. The scene looked exactly the same to Riddler and the former Two-Face as it did to Sly the bartender, the tourists from Saratoga Springs, and DEMON minion fresh off the boat from Istanbul. Clearly Dr. Bart said something wrong – or else he didn't say something he was supposed to – or possibly he looked shifty when he said it/didn't say it. In any case, he fumbled. And since they couldn't very well send the women after Raven, the only way to find out what happened was from DOC BRAT ROT himself.

Harvey excused himself from the table and invited Bartholomew into the bar, reasoning that Harvey Fullface "former patient" had a better chance than Edward Nigma, who could be back on the Arkham couch at any time. Even at that, Bart was reluctant to go along. The "indiscretion," the "illusion of candor that arose from a therapeutic relationship not for a true friendship," the "appearance of impropriety," Bart had a dozen of them. Harvey eventually silenced that psychobabbling ethics rot by pointing out that Leland Bartholomew, psychiatrist to half the psychos in the Gotham underworld, should not stroll unescorted into the Iceberg bar. If he wanted a drink (and in Harvey's experience, the sight of your ladylove running to the ladies room in tears was cause for a drink), he should come with Harv.

Bartholomew said no, he should just leave.  
Harvey said no, not while the lady was _crying in the bathroom_.  
Bartholomew gave in and ordered a Jack Daniels.

* * *

"You're back."

Catwoman had landed on the roof, hip cocked ever so slightly at that angle, her particular stance. She'd moved towards him like she had on a thousand rooftops before, not threateningly but predatory all the same, unmistakably feline, her whole body alive with movement. Then, as soon as she was close enough to be heard, that purring voice. "You're back."

Once, the words would have been different. Once, he would have chased her down before reaching this moment. Once, he would have ordered her to stop. Once, she would have teased him in reply. "Can't a girl go out for a stroll without strange men chasing after her?"

Now it was "You're back." Now, instead of an attack or another chase, she lifted her arms around his neck and added, "I missed you."

He managed a grunt. It wasn't easy. There was no light teasing touch along the edge of his cowl, no slow claw down his arm or a gentle fiddle with the edge of his cape. "You're back. I missed you." It was so… Selina. In the catsuit, on a rooftop, that smell of her skin, vanilla and lavender with the faintest hint of leathery musk. He didn't need this. He didn't need that line to be blurring right now. He needed Catwoman the unstoppable safecracker to be here in the city prowling rooftops and Selina the woman with whom he shared his life to be at home in Bruce Wayne's house, in Bruce Wayne's bedroom, where she kept her jewelry in the corner safe that she didn't _have_ to crack because she _knew_ the combination…

Of course, even in that strained scenario, it's not like he'd ever _told_ her the combination. It was just understood between them, it was understood that she could open it. He even changed the combination periodically just for… for "fun." She always opened it in minutes; it was their little game. Even there, even in their bedroom, she was so completely Catwoman. Even there where they were so intimate, where he was so completely exposed…

He should say something. He shouldn't just stand there frozen and mute, like it was a matter of time before the Bat growled "Enough" and she would launch off the roof, escaping into the night with her plunder. She was _welcoming him home_. He should caress her cheek or wrap his arms around her waist; he should say he missed her too.

But the moment passed and her attention shifted – as it often did by this point in a rooftop encounter – to the body armor. But instead of tracing the oval or the outline of the bat on his chest, she was examining the tiger scratches down the side.

"My God, what happened here," she began, lining up her claws with the scratch marks.

Somehow that made it easier to growl and push her away like he used to.

"Nothing," he snapped.

Except pushing her back a step only made it worse, because now that she was focused on the armor, she saw the deeper scratches (as well as the rips, punctures, and dried blood) on his thigh.

"What did this?" she asked, looking closer.

"It's nothing. Don't fuss. I've had worse," he graveled, trying to maintain Bat-mode and not entirely sure he was succeeding. "I've had worse _from you_," he added, which wasn't strictly true but made him feel more firmly in controlled, disciplined Bat-mode.

"Yes, I suppose you have," she smiled, Bat-mode making her playful as always – which at least was more Catwoman than she had been up until now.

He told her she should go home, it was late – And it was late. Late enough that she figured he too would be heading home and she could _ride back with him in the Batmobile_… He didn't like the idea. PsychoBat knew he could put a stop to it. If he said he wanted to finish patrol, her revulsion at any sort of crimefighting would discourage her from coming along. If it didn't, he could say he'd be making a quick pass through the East End. That would definitely—

But why? She was happy, she was welcoming him home. Why throw the specter of the Gotham Post in her face? Why remind her of something that… It _was_ late. It was close enough to dawn that he was ready to call it a night. There was no need to manipulate her just to prove he could. He nodded towards the car, and on the drive home he would remember to ask about the opera.

* * *

Harvey wasn't really listening while Leland Bartholomew fretted about his reputation. He'd seen Muffy and Penny rise very sweetly from the table and go to the ladies' room. Eddie must've somehow persuaded them… Damn, who knew the Nigmeister had it in him?

It was only then he vaguely heard Dr. Bartholomew's flustered complaints, this was the last thing he needed, his private affairs becoming grist for the Iceberg rumor mill. Harvey absently assured him that he wasn't that interesting – and he wondered how on earth Eddie might have broached the subject with Muffy and Penny.

"Just wait 'til Patients Crane or Strange hear of this. Mark my words, they'll start making their therapy sessions about me instead of them – well, truth be told, they do that anyway, I suppose."

"Hm? Oh right," Harvey said carelessly, then refocused his attention forcibly on Bartholomew. "Right! Let the ladies calm her down. Then when she comes out, nice and softened up, you make your move. Let's hear what you've got."

Bartholomew blinked. He had no "prepared material" for the evening, he'd come because he had an epiphany. He'd come to speak his from his heart. He came to—

Harvey Dent shook his head in despair. Like bringing a knife to a gunfight, he said. No wonder he'd sent the girl running to the ladies room in tears.

Since Eddie was now alone at their table, Harvey called him over, and the two of them, Eddie "Ladykiller" Nigma and Harvey the Dentmeister, began to coach Dr. Bart. They decided that, despite all the unfortunate whining, old Hermann actually did have a good outline, which a persuasive lawyer like Harvey and a quick-witted wordsmith like Eddie could mold into a moving poetic appeal: begin with a brief word-portrait of your bleak existence before meeting the lady fair, list her many fine qualities (neither dwelling on nor omitting her physical charms), contrast the lonely before and the rapturously fulfilled after. Insert romantic gesture such as kissing her hand. Repeat if needed… They hoped he could remember all that because their dates were coming back from the ladies room and they had to get back to the table. Make us proud, Doc—

And off they went.

* * *

Bruce awoke feeling he'd forgotten something. He banished the lingering sense of a nightmare while his conscious mind reached out for that one thought that began each day (if he was lucky): he was waking at home in his own bed. No alley, no bonds, no deathtrap. Selina was still curled under his arm, just like they'd fallen asleep, her fingers resting on the cat-scars on his chest. Her scars, the old scratches from the Excelsior Towers, not the fresh ones from… It had been a long time since he talked about a case that way, in bed. Lying together like this before they'd fallen asleep, he'd told her about the Dhumavati…

He was forgetting something.

…Before that, in the car, she'd talked about the opera. She'd invited Nigma to go with her. (Impossible woman.) Not that Dick or Barbara were likely candidates for— He winced. Selina had shifted in her sleep, inadvertently rubbing the wound in his thigh. He'd have Alfred disinfect it properly and stitch it up later, but for now— oh. He winced again. This time it had nothing to do with the stinging in his thigh, not directly. He remembered what it was that he'd forgotten. The tigers.

He stroked Selina's hair, thinking. He knew from experience that Clark considered 1 p.m. to be "first thing in the morning" for calling on night people. That didn't give him much time, even if he had a plan.

Prevention was a long shot. He'd be better off concentrating his efforts on damage control after the fact.

If it were anyone but Selina. Damage control was the best course; it was the smart move. But somehow, with Selina, he was reluctant to stand back and let the dominos fall if there was any chance of stopping it.

If it were anyone but Selina… If it was anything but the Catitat.

* * *

Dick and Tim were both considered family at Wayne Manor, not visitors. Alfred didn't ask why they were there or formally show them into the Morning Room while he "went to fetch" Miss Selina. He told them, almost casually (for Alfred), that he thought she was on the terrace off the dining room. And then he told them to stop by the kitchen before they left. Both knew there would be a fresh pitcher of lemonade and a thin crust pizza just coming out of the oven when they got there.

They did find Selina on the terrace, wearing a wine-colored, scoop-necked leotard and tight black riding pants, her eyes closed while she sat in some kind of twisty yoga posture… and Tim lost his nerve. He stopped short when he saw her and Dick walked right into him. He reached around and yanked Dick forward, then pushed him towards Selina. Dick smacked him.

"Is this how brave you were confronting her in the field?" Dick whispered.

"Yes," Tim hissed. "Unlike my predecessor I didn't want any embarrassing voice-crack episodes or—"

"You know I can hear you," Selina said calmly, without opening her eyes or relaxing her posture.

"Screwed," Tim said.

"Putz," Dick answered.

"I have no idea how any of you are still alive," she noted with a grin. Then she stood, stretched, and winked. "So what's up?"

Looks were exchanged, an entire fifteen minute "you-go—no-YOU-go" argument summed up in two half-second stares, and finally Dick decided to be spokesman.

"We were just wondering if you'd noticed anything a little off with Bruce," he began uncertainly.

"Is this how brave you were confronting her in the field?" Tim said pointedly.

"Well how were you going to introduce the subject?" Dick asked.

"I don't know, maybe mention the Zogger, the drills, the new log procedures, new passwords on everything, 'all transmissions have to be encrypted no matter how trivial the data', scrambling transponder frequencies every two days…"

"I don't believe you guys are being such babies about some new passwords," Dick grunted.

"Be you own man protocol, Bro."

"Guys! Do I have to be here for this?" Selina interrupted.

They both turned and looked at her.

"Look," Tim said reasonably, "It's just that Bruce has gone seriously PsychoBat lately, like before you/when you were really getting to him PsychoBat. So maybe you could, I dunno, do something to 'ease the tension' or some…thing…"

He'd put air quotes around the final phrase, after which Dick took a brisk step to the side and stood looking up at the trellis, hands behind his back, like maybe he was considering buying a trellis just like this for a terrace of his own.

"Ease the tension," Selina repeated thoughtfully.

"Oh you know what I mean," Tim whined. "Do that thing you do."

"'That thing I do' is this," she answered with lightning speed, as a lion's leap kick knocked Tim backwards, flipped him over, and a tiger's fist jab stopped just short of his forehead to discourage any thought he might have of standing.

* * *

Clark Kent made his usual excuse: he was meeting a source over his lunch hour so he might be a bit late getting back to the office, and moments later Superman was speeding towards Gotham. By the time he sighted the Hudson River, he decided Bruce was paranoid. And Lois, though not in Bruce's league, had her own bouts with unjustified cynicism, most reporters on her level did. He was offering free tigers! They were beautiful and noble animals that had been mistreated. Selina had a cat farm. There was no reason she shouldn't jump at the chance to give them a home. Bruce was just being overcautious, as usual, almost to the point of para—

_"Hello?? Former Villainess here, not the Young Vigilante Union Rep. Now scram or bleed." _

—noia.

He shook his head, wind currents did weird things when he shifted his posture and slowed for a landing. He'd been thinking about Selina in a certain context as he was nearing Wayne Manor, so his superhearing decided it heard her voice and his subconscious distorted it into something… catty. And, of course, it didn't happen _only_ as he neared Wayne Manor; it happened when he was crossing those sensors Bruce had to "detect Kryptonian entry into Wayne Manor's airspace." His subconscious knew that too. Bruce and Lois _WERE_ paranoid and paranoia was contagious, that's really all there was to it. Free tigers, that was the thing to remember. He was offering her free tigers.

He landed on the south lawn and walked towards the terrace. Selina was there; Dick and Tim were going inside… Well, okay, Dick and Tim. Maybe Selina _had_ said _something_ about "young vigilantes." That didn't mean anything on its own. Free Tigers. He was offering free tigers.

Selina stretched a few times as he walked over. Clearly she saw him and was just waiting – but the stretching did look very… feline. His second guessing took a sudden detour as he realized he wasn't sure where, exactly, he was with Selina "socially." Should they shake hands? hug? kiss on the cheek? While he was wondering he was also walking, and now he was standing close enough to at least say something – but he hadn't.

So he waved hello, which seemed awkwardly wrong at this distance, but she answered with a casual "Hey Spitcurl." Then he wished her a good afternoon and she said "He's down in the cave."

He faltered. It was too quick for human senses to perceive, but the Man of Steel quite definitely faltered. She said _Bruce was down in the cave_. So she thought he was there to see _Bruce_. So Bruce… hadn't even _told her_ he was coming? "Ask her yourself and leave me out of it" was beginning to seem like something more than typical Bat-paranoia. Lois's demands for the byline echoed in his memory. In his mind's eye he pictured the words "by Lois Lane" and his imagination tried to pull back his focus to reveal the headline above…

His imagination floundered.

What did Bruce know that he didn't?

"Actually I came to talk to you," Superman announced, striking his trademark hands-on-hips pose. It was his usual approach, direct and confident, and it nearly always managed to secure a positive response from his listeners. _The-awe-of-Superman-on-your-doorstep _Factor, as Bruce referred to it, although Clark preferred to think of it as catching more flies with honey.

"No, I will not make cookies for the Justice League bake sale," Selina replied –with a honey smile of her own, hands on her own hips mirroring his stance, and clearly declaring herself _ Un-awed-by-Superman-about-to-ask-a-favor._

He glanced down at his "I'm Superman" stance and laughed.

"Sorry, It's a habit," he remarked, dropping his arms to his sides and taking on a much more relaxed posture.

But neither the laugh nor the exchange so far had put him at ease. The duet of "Just leave my name out of it" and "I get the byline" echoed in his memory. So, instead of getting down to business about the tigers (_Free_ tigers, he reminded himself), he grinned and, with the disarming manner of a savvy reporter, he changed the subject. He talked about Metropolis and the Daily Planet, an arson story Lois just broke which was getting a lot of attention in the national press, an astronomer Clark Kent had interviewed the week before who just happened to show him – dumb luck, just because the conversation happened to flow that way – a new nebula in the same quadrant as Krypton. It looked so interesting through the telescope that Superman had gone up afterwards for a closer look…

He talked long enough that Alfred must have gotten wind of his arrival and brought a tray with a pot of coffee, milk, mugs – "Good afternoon, sir" that Superman only half-nodded at – sugar, sandwiches and cookies… He segued – casually, thanks to the arrival of the coffee – into the recent case with Batman: the Dhumavati cult, _dhuma_ meaning smoke which was all that would be left after the destruction of the world by fire…

Selina knew babbling when she heard it. She sat down and silently poured the coffee, added cream and sugar, and pushed a mug over to Superman – who was still going strong.

…What was so interesting on this last case was that Dhumavati, like all aspects of the goddess Parvati (according to Bruce's research, which was just unbelievably valuable on this case, even more than usual) is represented with a lion, but this cult used tigers instead, inspired by this passage in the Rubaiyat of—

"Spitcurl, are you nervous about something?" Selina interrupted, pouring her own coffee. "Because you juggle _planets_. So whatever it is that can make you sputter through a book report on Hindu deities, I don't think I can help you with it."

Superman chuckled, lifted his coffee, and then became transfixed by the mug. It pictured an extreme close-up of some sort of spotted wildcat and read **_Nirvana. The Catitat._** He moistened his lip thoughtfully. Selina's own mug displayed her own picture, masked as Catwoman, and the words **_Cat-Tales. Hijinx Playhouse._**

"I _can_ juggle planets," Superman said frankly (although he never had, not literally. There would be no reason to do such a thing, but he was certainly capable of the feat). "But you can make Bruce smile. You tell me which is more incredible."

"The fact that all of you seem to think that—" she started to say, but Superman waved his hand, shushing her, and pointed to his mug.

"I've known him for years, Selina. As long as you've known Batman, certainly, and a lot longer than you've known Bruce. And this is the first time I've been served anything in this place that didn't have a gold W on it." Then he pointed to her mug. "And I _never_ saw him smile in the mask, not once…until 6 weeks after that show of yours. Now, remind me, when was it exactly that you two got together?"

"Pfft," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You know the thing that bugs me most about criminals," he said offhandedly. "The denials, the ridiculous, transparent denials when you've got them dead to rights… I have six Bengal tigers. They need a home. You have a preserve. So what can we do about this?"

* * *

…to be continued…


	3. Ease the Tension

**The New Black**_  
Chapter 3: Ease the Tension_

* * *

Before the masks came off, before we really got involved as a man and a woman, one of the first real conversations Bruce and I had outside of those bat and cat roles, we acknowledged that our lives would never be normal. There is no such thing as a "normal" day at Wayne Manor, so when today started off with Dick and Tim turning my morning yoga into a sitcom farce, it didn't really seem like an omen. Superman swooping down from the sky five minutes later to offer me tigers, that might strike some as the event of a lifetime, but around here he's _Clark_ and it's been a few weeks since he's had an excuse to drop in and remind us that, in God-on-Earth's opinion, Bruce and I should take some vows, exchange some rings, and make our friends buy us flatware. The only notable thing about his visit – other than the tigers – was that Bruce must have known he was coming and didn't mention it. So I went down to the cave to paw around and see what was going on. I found him in the chem lab playing with fire, literally. He's got this new alloy and it looked like he was melting down a few pellets to coat a Batarang. But I knew better.

"Meow," I began.

"Good morning," he said, lowering the flame under his little science project.

"I know perfectly well that you just lit that thirty seconds ago," I teased. "I will bet you a ten minute headstart next time we play at the museum, against the location of a secret backdoor into the Cipriani vault, that you were monitoring the upstairs cameras up until thirty seconds ago when you saw me coming down here."

He turned to me and asked what I was talking about, completely convincing. He's a wonderful actor and a brilliant liar, goes with having a secret identity. But of course I wasn't fooled, and he probably knew I wouldn't be. That's when his lip twitched.

"Three minutes is all the headstart you would ever need. And it's at least a ninety second walk from the last camera in the study to where you're standing right now."

"Do we have a bet or not?" I said.

"More like a hundred twenty seconds actually, maybe one-thirty in those shoes of yours."

"Granted. Bet?"

He grunted, and I served up a naughty grin.

"Item," I began crisply. "Alfred did not just spontaneously decide to use those coffee mugs."

Then he smiled, a real one. That's a rarity in the cave, but now and then, as long as he's not in costume, he'll let his lips curl upwards into something besides a grimace.

"I thought deduction wasn't your kink," he said.

"Doesn't need to be, I share a bed with the best there is."

He grunted again, and we relocated to the medlab because he wanted to change the bandage on his leg. That's what Rogues call creative stage management. He was spraying disinfectant on the tiger bites by the time I began making my case:

"Spitcurl was here," I began again. "As if you didn't know," I added – with a wink that he didn't see because he was inspecting the wound like he'd never seen one before. I knew the move well, denying me his full attention (or at least pretending to), and I knew how to short-circuit it. I took the disinfectant from his fingers, which did bring his focus back to me, first to the spark of warmth where our hands touched, and from there… well…

"He offered me tigers," I said, touching lightly around the edge of the wound. "These tigers… From those Dhumavati lunatics… for the Catitat… You must've known he was going to. You must've known he was coming today… You were watching me upstairs… You saw him arrive. You saw him floundering… And you had Alfred bring him a life preserver in the form of a Catitat mug to introduce the subject…"

He grabbed my wrist, exactly where he used to when Psychobat had enough of my refocusing his attention. But it's a lot different without masks or gloves. I think we both lost our train of thought for a second.

Then Bruce cleared his throat, grunted, and admitted that Clark had mentioned, in passing, that he might stop by today. But (he continued as he plucked the disinfectant from my fingers and applied a new bandage to his thigh) he had "more pressing matters" to think about just then.

I smiled. I really love him. When he's devious and stubborn, when he's controlling and manipulative, when he's Psychobat infuriating, and when he's just plain screwy.

"Okay, forget about Spitcurl," I said gently. "Why not ask me _yourself_?"

He glanced through the door into the main chamber of the cave, and then turned back and focused all his attention on the bandage again.

"It's your place," he said gruffly. "Your Catitat; your decision. I wasn't about to interfere. Especially— But Clark wouldn't listen. So I let him go to you directly."

Our eyes met.

Especially.

"I figured you'd strike a better deal on your own," he said suddenly, an abrupt change of tone just touching on rooftop Bat-mode. "What did you get?"

I laughed, but he went on.

"You tried to get a three minute headstart out of me and all I'd done was say good morning. Clark wanted to use Catwoman's preserve to solve a League problem. If you came away with anything less than the deed to the Watchtower, I'll be vastly disappointed."

I was still laughing. It used to really piss me off that he knew me so well, and it drove me crazy when he'd predict where Catwoman would strike. But somewhere along the line I got used to the idea… and I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

"I got three days of Super-Landscaping," I admitted, "to make room for the new arrivals, and four of those fist diamonds he makes, to cover expenses."

He grunted. Then he said I should let him supply the graphite for the fist diamonds because Clark will often use a random rock or lump of coal, and impurities in the sample would create a cloudy gem that was only good for industrial use.

"It doesn't matter," I grinned. "I was prepared to settle for _one_ diamond and _one_ day of landscaping, but he didn't make a counter offer. Just agreed straight away."

"Clark isn't much of a negotiator," Bruce noted. "That landscaping idea is very creative."

"It is," I said, "but I can't claim credit for it. I got the idea from one of those dimension hops."

He seemed to close up then and I was sorry I'd mentioned it. There's a lot I haven't told him about those alternate dimensions. And he knows it.

It was my turn to change the subject.

"We're on our own for lunch," I said cheerfully. "Spitcurl had to fly, a launchpad fire in Florida. Dick and Tim went along. Officially for experience, but unofficially I think they wanted to put a few states between them and my claws."

"What was that about, anyway?" Bruce asked.

"A-Ha!" I pointed. "You were watching, I knew it."

"Yes," he said. Then the lip twitch. "I was keeping an eye on the terrace, waiting for Clark to arrive. Detective 'kink' not withstanding, you were right about that. You get three minutes next time at the museum."

"Meow."

And again the lip twitched. It used to piss me off that he knew me so well, but I got used to it. Maybe he feels the same way.

"I was watching for Clark," he repeated, "And I saw Dick and Tim go out there instead. Tim said something to you using air quotes and you knocked him flat on his back. So… What did they want?" When he got to the actual question, he dipped into the deep, ominous bat-gravel. I just love that voice, reowrl. And he knows it, damnit. Thinks he can get anything out of me that way. He's usually right, too.

But not today.

"Oh it was nothing much," I said carelessly, heading back to the stairs.

"Nothing?" Bruce responded skeptically. "You knocked Tim over with a stunning high-kick over 'nothing'?"

"Yup," I replied sweetly.

He eyed me curiously for a moment and then shook his head. "Okay."

Yeah, he's definitely gotten used to me knowing him so well, too.

"Anyway," I resumed, "Since the boys were here and then they left, Alfred has a kitchen full of untouched goodies. So don't be too long. I'm not eating that much high-carb by myself, I'll never make it into the catsuit."

There was a gravelly grumble that I took to be acknowledgement, and I headed upstairs. I could have offered more detail on Dick and Tim, but anything I said would have only played into their hands. I would be bringing their complaint to PsychoBat's attention, and as I told the little pests at the time, I am not the Union Rep for the Junior Bats' Local. Besides, considering how quickly he accepted my 'nothing' explanation, I'm willing to bet he already knows exactly what their complaints were about. In any case, for all the grousing the Bat-Team has been doing, none of it has affected me. Bruce has been downright sweet around the house, thoughtful, attentive, almost like when we began dating. And Batman is pretty much like he's always been: brooding, intense, and sexy as hell.

So kitty has no complaints. If the Junior Bats feels they've been over-Zoggered, my response to them would be exactly the same as it was to Iceberg crowd back in the day: Your problem; you deal with it. Now keep your straw/vines/hat/coin/flipper off my catnip.

* * *

At the time, Roxy thought nothing of it. Dr. Bartholomew was going to see Raven at the Iceberg. The gnawing tedium of an evening alone in her cell was interrupted by a few minutes conversation, that was it. As soon as he'd gone, the tedium returned and she had nothing else to do but consider that conversation.

Dr. Bartholomew was going to the Iceberg.  
Dr. Bartholomew was going to the Iceberg _to see Raven_.

She. Had. Dish.

It wasn't the best dish in the history of gossip, but it was an exclusive. And Roxy never had an exclusive before. This was going to be good. Of course it wasn't the fiery rush you got from cheating death, but it was a tingle. Tomorrow morning when the common room opened, she would be the center of everything. This must be what Jervis Tetch enjoyed, although it couldn't mean nearly as much to him. He was already a first tier Rogue. But for Roxy, being the center of attention in the Arkham common room meant she'd finally arrived. Having the ear of all the bigs, Hatter, Scarecrow, maybe even Joker.

It could happen. Any news had a higher premium in Arkham than it did at the Iceberg. Especially news from the "outside," it was a rare commodity…

Roxy had spent the night considering all the angles of Dr. Bart and Raven, the different ways to approach the story, and the different conclusions that could be drawn. She decided they met through Oswald, Oswald sent Raven to seduce Bartholomew, a powerplay to gain control over Arkham, directing who was freed and when, that kind of thing. But Raven must've fallen for Bartholomew, that was the usual shtick in the movies. Unfortunately those movies always ended with the failed seductress getting shot, which didn't make for much of a stunt. Bang and fall down or bang and fall through the window – a first floor window and freakin' candy glass too, not a thrill to be had. (Why couldn't pseudo noir crap ever be in a high rise anyway? They had tall buildings back then.) Once! _Once_ she was shot while driving a car, which then crashed and burst into flames. But other than that one good stunt, those flicks were a big yawn.

Anyway, Raven fell for Bart and then… hm, maybe Oswald intervened. Yeah, that sounded good. Oswald got wind of it and ordered Bart killed, so Raven ended the affair in order to save his life. Yeah, that seemed plausible. And now Bart was going down there, right into the lion's den, to win her back. Yeah, that sounded good. Roxy was a stuntwoman not a screenwriter, but it sounded good to her.

The common room would come up with its own theories, of course. Harley was particularly imaginative when it came to romantic reconstruction. But Roxy would be the source of the news, the font of everyone's fun. The common room opened at ten. It was going to be a great day.

* * *

It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes after I'd left the Batcave that Alfred came up to my suite. He said I had "yet another unexpected visitor" waiting to see me in the Morning Room. Although detective work still isn't my kink, I correctly deduced that the visitor must be Eddie. It was the way Alfred said it, this little sniff that meant this surprise caller wasn't up to the standard of the previous three. So I suggested he send the unnamed visitor up to the suite, and that confirmed it. Alfred "didn't think Master Bruce would care to have this particular gentleman admitted to the upper floor of the manor."

"Sure, I'll be right down," I said.

Silly me, I was trying to be considerate. When I moved into the manor, we all agreed that the suite is my sovereign territory, like an embassy is foreign soil. So I thought of it as kindness, meeting Eddie here rather than in the morning room or one of the drawing rooms that are all part of Bruce's house. But if the suite is my sovereign territory, it is also across the hall from the master bedroom. An embassy may be foreign soil, but when it's directly across the street from the capital, the locals get nervous. So much for that. Woof.

* * *

Roxy expected the Bartholomew story to add a little excitement to her dreary life at Arkham. She figured she'd be the center of attention for a few hours. She did not expect the heady, heart-pounding thrills she was accustomed to on the outside!

For the first hour and a half it all went as expected. Hatter, Scarecrow, even Mr. Freeze, top tier Rogues hanging on her every word. Second tier too, Ventriloquist, Croc, Hugo Strange. LISTENING, listening to her, transfixed, and then breaking up into little groups and dissecting every syllable, nuance, and variation. News, it was the great leveler. Everyone was bored, after all…

But then Joker came in. Joker, King of the Rogues, King of Arkham Asylum. He saw everyone huddled together and was eager to join in the fun. He was always HAHAHA-happy to hear what his subjects had to say. It might be praise for his latest crime spree. It might be a new almost got'im story. Or maybe someone came up with a 57th nickname for him HAHAHAHAHA!! Whatever it was, he was eager to hear it.

So Harley told him what was going on, and Joker was… unhappy. Inside his inflated permanent smile, his mouth seemed to deflate into a thoughtful frown and then widen into a grimacing scowl. He jumped up and down and said they'd got it all wrong. He KNEW about Bart and Raven, that wasn't news at all! Which was impossible and Roxy was outraged. Joker couldn't know! How could he know? He was the biggest Rogue there ever was, why did he have to steal her little moment in the sun! But that wasn't all, oh no. Not only did Joker say he knew about Raven and Bart, he'd _denied his consent_. He'd declared them null and void. She was all wrong for him. A terrible influence. No good for him at all. Bart knew that, he knew Joker didn't approve. He would never go against Joker's wishes. He would never go traipsing off with some Iceberg trollop without Unky J's blessing!

"I HAVE NO SON!" Joker shrieked, tearing his hair – and when the orderlies tried to restrain him, he knocked their heads together.

Then he looked malevolently around the room.

"Who dared?" Joker demanded. "Who dared spread these wicked stories? Dr. Bart is as faithful a psychotherapist as there ever was. Who dared besmirch his good name?"

Another woman would have resented Jervis pointing to her that way. A notorious killer asks "Who" with a crazed glint in his eye, what kind of coward starts pointing at a petite little brunette? But after all, Jervis was known to be the biggest gossip in the county, name any given rumor and it probably started with him. It would be a shame to die for the one that he really had nothing to do with (other than tearing up at the part where Bart risked life and limb to go find Raven at the Iceberg). Not to mention that the crazed clown, obviously aware of Jervis's rumor-mill stature, was staring directly at him with a pointed glare. So Jervis had spinelessly pointed at Roxy…

Joker charged and, after clunking the orderlies heads together once more to make sure they stayed out of the way, he did a very good job strangling her… it was a rush! The actual not-breathing wasn't the greatest, but when he looked at you with that homicidal gleam in his eye, what a pulse-pounder! What a shivering, shuddering, heart-pounding buzz! It wasn't the closest Roxy had come to dying, but it was a more intense near-death thrill than she'd ever experienced before. Those wild eyes, the maniacal laugh, the sheer speed with which he moved. "SIC SEMPER TYRANUS HAHAHAHAHA!!"

What a mind-blowing rush.

* * *

Much as I love Bruce and Alfred, they will never understand why I adore Eddie. I hadn't taken four steps into the morning room when he greeted me with this priceless bit of news: He'd wanted to thank me for inviting him to the opera, so he'd checked 496 languages in an online database looking for a clever way to express his gratitude. He found, to his dismay, that not a single one had the letters _c-a-t_ in their word for thank you.

"So I brought truffles instead," he announced, handing over a small foil box of sinful chocolaty pleasure.

I smiled and opened it, took one and offered him another.

"I didn't dare send flowers," he joked as he chewed. "When does a friendly social gesture turn into a fat lip? When it's misconstrued as a declaration that you're teaming up with Poison Ivy for an assault on the homestead and the lord of the manor goes STAB HIT batshit."

I laughed and we sat.

"Fine. Now why are you really here?" I asked.

"Do I have to have a reason?" he replied.

"Are you going to keep answering questions with questions?"

"Why can't I have simply come over to deliver my thank you?"

"Why couldn't you simply have the chocolates sent from the store?"

"Because _he_ would think I was 'sending clues to the house' and rip out my spleen."

"Ha, that wasn't a question," I pointed triumphantly.

"I don't care," he said emphatically. "I want to keep my spleen."

I laughed again. Eddie is such fun. The perfect antidote to the parade of puffed up crimefighters I'd had marching through my day so far.

"Take two," I announced. "Hi Eddie. It's sweet of you to come over, but doing me a favor by coming to the opera really didn't require a special thank you. So why are you here?"

"I slept with Muffy."

"Wh- What?" I stammered, hoping I wasn't jumpstarting the question game.

"Muffy. Me. Sex," he said, which at least meant no question game. Thank Bast for small favors.

"Okay I'm confused," I said, taking a deep breath. "Muffy is from Muffington – as in Claudia Muffington – who was with _Harvey_."

"I know, I know," he said, rubbing his forehead. "I'm not even sure how it happened. Something with the cabs."

"Cabs?"

"The taxis, going home after the Iceberg. It all happened fast."

"Eddie, you're telling me that you and Harvey, who have orchestrated brilliant theme crimes, devised elaborate deathtraps, and concocted flawless clockwork diversions to keep bat-pests occupied over here while you separate Normals from their possessions over there, _you two_ got outmaneuvered by a couple _society girls_ sorting out the cab rides home?"

He sighed and nodded.

"They're very good at it," he said feebly. "Lina, what can I say? She was hot. She was interested. It's been a while. What happens when a guy has had a 20-month drought and this really stacked – did you see her in those leaves at the Post party? And _alabaster skin,_ the real thing not a euphemism for green –comes on to you, or him, or…?" He sighed again. "I think I just nested riddles. Haven't had that happen in a while. I gotta clear my head."

But before he could say anything more, there was a heavy footstep in the hallway and Bruce walked in.

"Ah Selina, there you are!" he said, "I was just coming to—Oh." He paused, as if noticing my guest for the first time. "Edward."

"Bruce," Eddie answered flatly.

Bruce looked at me and then at Eddie. Eddie looked at Bruce and then at me. And I— I noticed that my new nail polish, that seemed like frosted lavender in the bottle, is really much closer to pink once it dries…

"To what do we owe this unexpected surprise?" Bruce intoned lightly.

"I just came to speak with Selina on a… personal matter. I'm not intruding, I hope."

"No. Of course not. Old friends should try to catch each other, now and then."

"Yes, lest one let the friendship escape."

… Yep, Pink. Matched my sapphire ring almost perfectly…

"I trust you enjoyed the opera," Bruce said perfunctorily.

"Yes," Eddie replied smoothly. "An unquestionably remarkable production. The lead soprano wasn't in the best voice, but the masked ball in Act II was quite the spectacle."

"Well the ball is one of the embellishments added especially for the stage," Bruce remarked. "The original Pushkin story is a masterwork of mood and suspense but somewhat lacking in visuals. On paper it comes off as an amazingly intelligent display, but once it sees the light of day, it's strangely inept."

"Yes, nothing like a Russian for creating an aura of impending doom."

…It occurred to me that Tim'syou could y'know _ease the tension' _was the high point of my day…

"I think the love story was also tacked on, wasn't it? Pushkin's novella is just about Hermann killing the old lady?"

"Yes, his crime is the same, but there's no woman involved. His motivation was pure greed."

…It also occurred to me that Tim missed out on most of the Catwoman-the-Villainess years, and maybe it was time to remedy that…

"Greed? I would have said it was obsession."

… I had six tigers now. You could make one hell of a deathtrap with six tigers…

"The obsession starts later, after he hears the legend about the Countess winning at cards and fixates on learning her secret. But the corruption in his nature was there from the beginning."

…Of course that's what the Dhumavati had done, using the tigers for a deathtrap. Catwoman doesn't go ripping off sorry-ass third-world nihilists. Plus, at my worst I never would have put the boys into something they couldn't get out of. Tim can't maneuver around one cat in a leotard; I wouldn't want to see him tackle a half dozen Bengals that missed breakfast.

"You know Bruce, it really is a shame that you missed the opera, since you've made such a study of it. Spot of business overseas, was it?"

…I figured this must be what it's like dealing baccarat when James Bond strolls into the casino and sits down with the villain du jour. They sip cognac and chat about Ferraris, you sit there in a cloud of subtext and testosterone waiting for somebody to take a card…

"Yes. Business. In London."

"All done with now?"

"For the moment."

…There _isn't_ a normal day at Wayne Manor, but nevertheless: Dick and Tim, ease the tension, Superman, tigers, and now I'm a Bond girl baccarat dealer. Really not my style. So I decided to get in the game.

"Oh, speaking of last night, we ran into Harvey," I said brightly – and then realized that didn't exactly ease the situation. I meant well, he is a common acquaintance. Unfortunately he was also a crime-busting district attorney and Batman's ally before he became Two-Face the master criminal and Riddler's cohort before he became – the one that really ratcheted up the tension – _Claudia Muffington's date._ In all the 007 subtext, I'd forgotten about Eddie's little bombshell. But there was no going back at this point, so I pushed forward: I said how Eddie had gone to the Iceberg after the show with Harvey and Claudia and some woman he'd met at intermission.

"Penny," Eddie said, supplying the name just as Bruce said "Vraag." And then they went back to glaring at each other over the invisible baccarat table.

* * *

He'd gone on vacation. That was all Leland Bartholomew had done. He was overworked, he took a vacation, he'd met a wonderful girl. And now… sigh.

Patient J was back in solitary. Patient Quinn was in tears. Roxy was in the infirmary, and even though Nurse Chin assured him that she would be out in less than an hour, her injuries limited to a sprained wrist and a headache brought on by hyperventilating, Bartholomew still felt woefully responsible.

And, of course, there was the fact that four out of four sessions since the incident had all alluded to his relationship with Raven. From Arnold Wesker's shy congratulations to his Scarface doll's artless "Hey Doc, I heared you were knockin' goots with Ozzy's hostess," the comments had run the gambit. Patient Frieze was at least circumspect, speaking only of the contentment a good woman can bring to a lonely life (until the inevitable chill of loss and then you're consumed by icy regret and cold, empty longing for the rest of time). Whereas Patient Strange said Raven was a conspicuously pretty girl who ran the Iceberg with cool efficiency and did Bartholomew know she had a past with Jonathan Crane? Patient Crane himself volunteered that she was afraid of spiders and had a delightfully uninhibited scream ("Or maybe you already knew that").

Bartholomew managed to gain control of each of those individual dialogues, but he felt any attempt at a group session was futile. He had Dr. Matkins take his 4:30 Anger Management, but even at that Patient Jones stopped in his office afterwards with the strangely touching (albeit threatening) announcement that "Raven always good to Croc. Doctor treat Raven right, doctor go on breathing."

* * *

Somebody had to say something. They were glaring again. I was starting to worry I might turn complex from all the testosterone in the air. So I got up and said I would see about lunch. They both sprang to their feet and yelled "No!" in unison – a performance that couldn't entirely be acquitted of the word 'panic' – and now they were back to staring. But at least now we were all on our feet.

"_I'll _talk to Alfred about lunch," Bruce stated, finally breaking the deadlock. Then he stalked off, leaving Eddie and I alone.

"Well, at least that wasn't _awkward_," Eddie intoned sarcastically once Bruce was gone. "We were having a nice, cordial conversation, then suddenly everyone's wearing masks."

"What did you expect," I wheeled on him. "What were you thinking coming here like that?"

"I was thinking a woman I just met took her panties off on the cab ride home! You have to TELL somebody when shit like that happens!"

I said nothing. I wet my lips. I looked at the inkwell on the desk with a large, flowing W etched into its base, and then at a vase of peonies that wanted their water changed – and then I sat down again. The flowers had reminded me of something:

"Eddie, is this one of those weird déjà vu things or do I remember you having a one-nighter with Ivy too when she and Harvey were together?"

"No. No, that was _after_ they'd split and it wasn't a one-nighter. It was a _green_ one-nighter, as in not my idea and not my fault… But since you brought up old Harv, uh, you wouldn't happen to know how tight he and Muffington are, would you?"

I shook my head slowly. I realized that Harvey and I aren't in very close touch anymore.

"No idea," I said. "But if I had to guess, the fact that she's sneaking off with you and taking off her underwear argues that they're not that close."

He made a face just like he had at the opera.

"Aren't we turning into the little detec…" he began coolly. But before I could cut him off with a hiss, he trailed off and fixed his gaze on the inkwell just as I had done. That big flowing W. Then he turned his head suddenly towards the door.

"You don't suppose _he_ knows anything?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Bruce? C'mon."

"He and Harv are buds, right?"

"I'm not having this conversation," I announced.

"Guys do talk you know."

"Alright," I smiled. "You're a guy. Go talk to him."

"Hello? My spleen!" he wailed.

"Congratulations, Eddie, you seem to have worked yourself into the center of a perfect unsolvable riddle. Mazel Tov."

"Lina, please, listen. I know this is one of those areas where you can't really be 'one of the guys,' but I need you to pretend. You know who else is free right now? Nobody. There's you, there's me, and there's _Harvey_ – who I can't exactly go to for fairly obvious reasons."

"No argument there," I said sweetly, crossing my legs and taking a chocolate.

"But you see, that's just the thing, it _is_ just me and Harv that are free right now."

"There's Oswald," I pointed out.

"Oswald _Cobblepot_? Um, no."

"He's a rogue and a man, you don't need me."

"Lina… Look, forget being one of the guys, just be a woman. As a beautiful, sophisticated woman of breeding and refinement, have you ever seen Jonathan Crane eat?"

"Is that a riddle or are you really asking?"

"It's rhetorical. I'm saying this fad is only going to last so long. As soon as the Arkham revolving door revolves again, or someone like Oswald gets wind of it, it's gonna burn fast and end ugly. Let's face it, those women take one look at Jonathan, Jervis, or Hugo up close, the 'Berg will look like Karaoke Night when Croc shows up."

"Again, no argument. But I don't see what I can do for you, Eddie?"

"I have a very narrow window of opportunity if I'm going to take advantage of this."

"Which you seem to have started just fine—"

"_That wasn't planned!_ Lina, listen, please, _Why didn't I start the California earthquake?"_

"No, I haven't seen Jonathan eat. Look Eddie—"

"She took her panties off in the cab! Lina, I know you're not a guy, but try to understand. _Why didn't I start the California earthquake? _ Because it's _not my fault!_ She _took off her panties_ right there in the cab. Ivory lace with little yellow rosebuds. That's not something you can just ignore—"

"Better men than Edward Nigma have tried to ignore Claudia's… charms," Bruce announced from the doorway, "and failed just as miserably. He's not planning to stay for lunch, is he?"

Without turning to look, Eddie pointed over his shoulder at the doorway.

"Did he just support me and in the same breath talk about me like I'm not here?"

"If either of you keep this up," I announced, "I'm going up to my suite and you're going to be stuck with each other."

"What's actually sad," Bruce said with an eerily light detachment in his tone, "is that Muffy's been using that underwear trick since her junior year at Barnard. And worse, Penny Vraag is the one that taught it to her."

Eddie looked freaked-but-intrigued by that little declaration. Bruce clearly had an insider's slant on society women, more than anyone else in this miserable little tale. And as for me, I was a little freaked myself. Because that wasn't the Fop who had spoken. Not that there was any reason it should be, there was no one in the room for him to pretend for. Nevertheless, I didn't want to hear whatever Bruce knew about Claudia Muffington's underwear. And since I'd already threatened to leave if the two of them didn't behave, I stood – ignoring a new duet of protests – and headed up to my room.

* * *

Only Superman. He extinguished the launchpad fire with a few blasts of cold breath and pulled the astronauts from the shuttle. Less than three minutes had passed since they'd reached Kennedy Space Center when he returned to the spot where he'd left Nightwing and Robin. He left his armful of awe-struck astronauts with them and went back to retrieve the cargo. Oh sure, an explosion or collapse was unlikely now that he'd put out the fire, but it was better to be safe. The lab module in the cargo bay was costly and it contained live animals. No reason to risk it when he could pull it out safely. Up, up, and away…

"Hey look at that," Robin pointed.

Across a small lake, they could see a series of bleachers and beyond that, acres of grass crammed with onlookers on blankets. All had come to see the launch, all had brought cameras, binoculars, telescopes, and camcorders, and all were getting the show of a lifetime. There was a constant flutter of camera flashes, useless at this distance and unnecessary in the light of day, but it did convey the crowd's excitement as Superman pulled a huge metal pod from the shuttle, then flew off with it in the direction of the Vertical Assembly Building.

He returned to Robin and Nightwing a few minutes later. Neither really meant it when they said they were going along "for the experience," but what Superman did next was an education. He flew the astronauts over to their families in the VIP bleachers and stayed there for an hour signing autographs, posing for pictures, and meeting everyone connected to the mission crew. He spoke with each astronaut and found out if it was their first shuttle mission and what their previous flight experience had been. He chatted with the civilian payload specialists and heard all about the research they were conducting with the birds and ferrets in the lab. On the way back to Gotham, Robin asked why. Was Clark Kent maybe investigating negligence that led to the fire? Or some kind of expose on animal cruelty with that research? Nah, Superman scoffed. He was just hoping to relieve the disappointment for the families. Those folks had come a long way to see their son or daughter, uncle or cousin, mom or dad blast off on that mission. It might still happen, NASA would reschedule the launch. But you never know, something could happen in the meantime. Even if the same crew did go up next time, the families might not be able to come out again to watch the launch.

"So at least they got to meet Superman," Nightwing said, a trace of Bat-disapproval in his tone.

"Not quite," the Man of Steel smiled. "At least they got to see their son, daughter, cousin, mom, or dad telling Superman about their work. They should be the heroes today, not me."

"Cool," Robin observed.

"Yeah, it is," Nightwing agreed.

* * *

Eddie watched Selina leave the room, sensing that as she walked out the door so did any pretense of civility. Bruce watched her go also, and then listened quietly as the click of her shoes on the parquet floor faded into silence. After a tense beat of three, he turned to Eddie.

"So…" Eddie started weakly, stopping instantly when he saw the look on Bruce's face.

There was a strange finality in the air. It wasn't Bat-menace, which somehow made it all the more unnerving. Bat-menace was at least familiar. This was more like the grim resolve of a party host asking the last straggler to leave at 3 in the morning, mixed with the vague sympathy of an undertaker.

"It appears your business here is concluded," he said emphatically.

* * *

…to be continued…


	4. He Knows About That Too

**The New Black**_  
Chapter 4: He Knows About That Too_

* * *

Standing outside the formal manor entrance, Edward Nigma envisioned his signature image, the question mark, looming over the great house as he tried to make some sense of the previous minute and a half. The butler had been standing in the foyer while Wayne "escorted" him to the door, and Eddie couldn't quite make out if he was waiting to open it, formally and politely, like a proper butler for a departing guest – or if he was standing by to make sure the door _ was_ opened lest Bruce force Eddie through it leaving a splintery Nigma-shaped hole in the wood. In that cyclone of churning uncertainty, Eddie wasn't able to give the actual conversation his full attention. But now, having lived to take the sweet, clean, non-manor air into his lungs once more, Eddie recalled the conversation quite clearly.

Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman but, more significant in this case, Old Gotham blueblood and high society insider) had most definitely said Eddie had no need to bother Selina with those tawdry tales of Claudia Muffington, that there was no shortage of prospective confidants available, that every man on the North Shore had "been in the back of that cab" _—including Harvey Dent!_

The name was spoken just as that too officious butler swung the door open, and Eddie's concern that his head not make sudden violent contact with the heavy solid wood made it difficult to focus on anything else. But he still managed to sputter out the obvious angle that Wayne was clearly overlooking: Harvey had been Claudia's _date_ at the start of the evening that ended in the back of that taxi. Harvey was the one sitting next to her at the opera, Harvey was the one who checked her coat at the Iceberg. It was _Harvey's date_ that Eddie _had sex with_.

And then, before the door virtually slammed in his face, Bruce Wayne – a.k.a. Batman but, more significant in this case, Gotham blueblood and high society insider – said that "Harvey has extensive knowledge of _that_ too."

Now that… was a riddle. "Harvey has extensive knowledge of that too." There was a time when "Who is Batman under that mask" was the greatest riddle ever known. The conundrum nonpareil, the poser of posers, query of queries, puzzle of puzzles. Since learning its answer, Eddie had been struggling with the anti-climax. His efforts to resume theme crimes worthy of the One and Only Riddler had been, well, tepid. He was beginning to fear the new question he was doomed to ponder for the rest of his days would be "How to continue doing what I do while knowing what I know?" But now… "Harvey has extensive knowledge of that too."

Hm.

* * *

Harvey Dent was a pessimist where Love was concerned. He assumed that no news was bad news. Like the night of the Gotham Post party, he'd shared a cab home with Eddie and they talked of this and that. Since then, they'd met for coffee a few times and again they chatted: about sports, about crime, about the Gotham Post, about different sports, about the Iceberg, movies, and mutual friends, about politics, and finally more sports. They never touched on women. Harvey had started to date Claudia Muffington, but since Eddie never mentioned any female except Ivy or Selina, Harvey guessed that no news was bad news. There was nothing to tell, so he wouldn't embarrass his friend by asking, nor would he flaunt his growing involvement with Claudia. About that too Harvey had been prudently cynical. Claudia was a knockout, but she was a twice-married, twice-divorced knockout. The men in her circle who were her age (and his) were not the stuff of romance: if they were still single, they were either gay or wanting a twenty-something trophy wife. They were not looking for a gal like Claudia. So Harvey realized that he was little more than an attractive convenience and would be discarded should a more attractive, more convenient specimen present himself…

The thing was, Edward Nigma did not strike him (from his admittedly heterosexual frame of reference) as a more attractive anything. Harvey might not have the movie star looks he'd had as an up-and-coming D.A. but he still cut a damn fine figure. He was a Harvard man and well-connected in Claudia's world… for the life of him he couldn't see how Eddie, nice guy though he might be, could have pulled a Bruce Wayne and stolen Claudia off his arm that way.

Nevertheless, he wasn't a stranger to the Vraags and Muffingtons of the world, and he recognized the maneuver with the cabs for what it was. Both women lived in the East 50s, if there was any question of _convenience_ determining who would cab with whom, they could have gone home together. The only reason for asking where "Edward" lived was to juggle partners on the ride home. The women had obviously come to an arrangement during that last trip to the powder room, and that meant either _Penny_ was interested in _him_, or else Eddie would be doing the walk of shame down from Claudia's condo at around 7 am.

Since he himself was maneuvered into sharing with Penny, Harvey had thought about making a move but decided against it. Her name was a coin, after all, and that seemed like a bad omen. So he dropped her at her front door, declined the offer to "come up for coffee," and went home to his last Two-Face hideout in the Flick Theatre. It was late enough that he wouldn't need the drone of the television to get to sleep, but he turned it on anyway from habit. Channel 5 had _Law and Order_ reruns from midnight 'til six, and he used it in his Two-Face days to torment his dark alter ego. Since the healing, Harvey found he really didn't care for the show. It was a reminder of Two-Face, who hated the courtroom drama for obvious reasons. Harvey felt he really didn't need any reminders of Darth Duality, even a cursing, thwarted, unhappy Darth. Beyond that, the show was just a little too accurate in its portrayal of the political underbelly of the D.A.'s office. It reminded him of his own crusading days as an up and coming ADA. He didn't relish reminders of that either. So he flicked the dials and a happy fate delivered a much more enjoyable courtroom drama, Jimmy Stewart in _Anatomy of a Murder_, one of his all times favorites just starting, pure lucky coincidence.

George C. Scott just appeared on the screen as an entirely different kind of D.A. when… when Harvey's mouth dropped open in stunned shock.

A happy fate? That was a formula of words that had never crossed his mind before. Happy Fate? Lucky Coincidence? …Jumbo Shrimp. He watched the whole movie, only half aware of the figures on the screen, and went to bed hoping he wouldn't dream of a Jimmy Stewart Two-Face shooting up the Jekyll and Hyde club with a double-barrel shotgun.

* * *

"What is the worst part about knowing Batman's secret?" Eddie queried in his mind. Answer: that disturbing awareness of his being _a person_. The Riddler did not like seeing Batman as anything more than an adversary, the worthiest adversary but nothing more than that, an all but disembodied intellect with the visage of a bat who existed to answer the Riddler's challenges and challenge him in return. That. Was. It. The sudden emergence of a human being behind that mask who was anything more than life support for a brain was a horrific and discombobulating shock.

"Harvey has extensive knowledge of that too."

That wasn't the life support for a crimefighting intellect talking; that was a man. That was a man who once took a woman to a party or a nightclub, checked her coat, held her chair –and then saw her disappear out the door with Harvey Dent.

"Harvey has extensive knowledge of that too."

It wasn't a voice coldly stating the answer to a riddling clue before whizzing a batarang at your head; it was a voice declaring "Harvard Prick did it to me once too."

Hm.

Eddie knew that Bruce and Harvey had a history. He knew they'd known each other and hung out socially before Harvey became Two-Face. The details had never seemed important, but now… Hm. Harvey had been district attorney after all, an ally of both Batman and the police. No one ever held that against him once he became Two-Face; the rogues scarcely even thought about it. Two-Face was such a vicious critter, it was easy to forget his disreputable past. Eddie himself had forgotten, but now…_"Harvey has extensive knowledge of that too."_

Harvey Dent had been an ally of Batman.  
Harvey Dent had been buddies with Bruce Wayne.  
Bruce Wayne was Batman.…

He needed to get to the bottom of this.  
He needed to get to the bottom of this.  
He needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Harvey has extensive knowledge of that too."

Could Harvey know the truth about Bruce Wayne and Batman?

Hugo Strange knew, which was bad enough. As Selina once predicted, Eddie had spent many a sleepless night wrestling with that ghastly notion. Hugo Strange, an inferior intellect in every way imaginable, getting there first, it was inconceivable. It was inconceivable that Hugo could learn the secret before the mighty Riddler, so Eddie had finally come to the conclusion that he _hadn't_. Hugo didn't deduce anything, infer anything, or realize anything. He didn't _ know_ anything, he'd _guessed_. He happened to guess right, but that was dumb luck and it simply didn't count. In deference to Bruce Wayne's brilliant mind as much as Eddie's own, that was the only rational way to look at it: Hugo didn't count. Hugo Strange's theories about Bruce Wayne were just as groundless, psychotic and weird as if Wayne wasn't Batman at all, ergo Hugo didn't count.

Selina knew but that was also a very different (THIEF LEFT TO SACK) kettle of catfish. He didn't know how exactly Catwoman learned Batman's identity, but he could guess that it wasn't an intellectual achievement. However it happened, Eddie could live with it. There was a lot he didn't like about Bruce and Selina being together, but he could honestly say Catwoman knowing the secret before him did not enter into it.

But Harvey? That would be a blow. Harv was a stand-up guy and Two-Face was one serious Rogue, but it would still be a blow. And yet, much as his ego looked on this possibility as the grisly innards of a reptile it might have to chew and swallow at some point in the future, the better part of his mind was intrigued rather than repulsed. "Harvey has extensive knowledge of that too." If he did know – if Harvey knew Bruce Wayne was Batman – it would be the answer to the great riddle Eddie now faced. Two-Face never seemed to have a problem trying to kill Batman. He would shoot at the Bat with a double-barrel shotgun, slice at him with a double-edged razor, stab him with a two-headed dagger, and chain him to 22 pounds of double-star explosive. And Harvey still hung out with Selina. Why couldn't Eddie have that? Why indeed? THAT was the riddle for the new millennium: Why indeed? If Harvey knew, then Harvey _knew! _If he had the answer to "Who is Batman under that mask?" then he had the answer to "How do you eradicate the filthy bat-pest knowing it's the love of Selina's life under that mask?"

He had to find out the truth. He had to. He HAD to!

* * *

_Super_-Hearing, that's what the human race called it. To Superman, it was nothing more than his Kryptonian senses detecting frequencies that human ears could not. Same with Super-Vision. There was nothing special about it; it was just the way his body worked.

Detecting the problem with Nightwing on the other hand, that was the kind of thing Clark would call a super sense if he was inclined to toss the prefix around. It went beyond simply noticing what your eyes and ears put in front of you – although, now that he stopped to think about it, no, it didn't. It amounted to _exactly_ that. Noticing the minute shift in the timbre of the voice that reflected a subtle rise in tension on a given word or syllable. Catching the faint clench of a facial muscle or a slightly ragged expel of breath. Bruce once called him a 'walking polygraph machine,' and he had to admit that honing this skill had been a boon to both of his jobs, as criminals and interviewees both had a remarkable habit of lying. None of it was "super" because he could see and hear what no one else could. His father would do the very same thing, taking in what his regular human senses told him about you and declare: "Something sure has you tied in a jumble, Clark."

While he didn't use the phrase 'tied in a jumble' with Nightwing, he did drop Robin off first in Brentwood and then rather than immediately returning to Bristol, he asked if 'Wing would like to go for a beer. A few minutes later, Clark Kent and Dick Grayson walked into a near-empty bar in a Brentwood strip mall and ordered a pitcher of a Bludhaven microbrew.

"I'm sure that's not what either of you were expecting when you went to the manor this morning," Clark began casually. "What were you there for?"

"Oh y'know, the usual, paying a visit" Dick said lightly.

Clark applied one of Lois's best interviewing techniques, saying nothing after a question was answered. He waited patiently, calmly expecting that there was more to follow, while Dick studied the television above the bar for a minute. It was a golf tournament, with a small Breaking News window in the corner re-running the footage of the launchpad fire and Superman, Nightwing and Robin's appearance there.

"Okay, that's a lie," Dick said abruptly, then took a long sip of beer. "What I was doing at the manor was making a big mistake. It was dumb bringing Tim, and truth be told it was probably a dumb mistake going to see Selina in the first place. She just seemed like the best option available."

"Oh?" Clark offered, just to break up the silent expecting-more routine without actually putting a new question on the table.

"You and Bruce are tight," Dick continued after another long, thoughtful sip. "Does he seem okay to you or does it, I don't know, feel like maybe he's kinda falling back on old ways?"

"That's what you went to ask Selina about? You're a married man, Dick, doesn't that seem a little—"

"I know," Dick admitted, "I'm not sure what I was going to ask or say to her. I just couldn't think who else to… Bruce has been really pouring it on lately, and I'm pretty concerned about it. That's why I wanted to see her." He sighed. "But I hadn't worked out what to say or how to approach it, and then I went and brought Tim along. Between us, boy did we bungle it."

Clark didn't mention the fragment of the conversation he'd overheard. Instead he sipped his own drink.

"Why didn't you go to Bruce directly?" he asked finally.

"Because he _played_ me," Dick announced, "_Again_. Like the psycho control freak all over again."

HeeH explained briefly about the Be-My-Own-Man-Protocol as he saw it, and Clark laughed. Then he took several sips of beer and laughed again. Dick looked put out.

"Do you think the kids are overreacting to the stricter guidelines and new procedures?" Clark asked reasonably.

"Well, yeah I do," Dick admitted. "Like, even now, Tim doesn't get why I went to see Selina. All he sees is the new protocols and he wants to complain. He's not even considering—"

"So, you do think they're overreacting," Clark interrupted. He almost never cut in while another person was speaking, but he could see that Dick was getting worked up and letting him stray from the subject would accomplish nothing.

"Yes," Dick said curtly.

"So do I," Clark said confidentially. "It's a natural reaction when new rules are imposed, particularly with young people."

"Yes," Dick repeated.

"So we agree," he nodded. Then he drank his beer as if he'd made his point. After a moment he spoke again as if on a completely new subject. "When we work together, Bruce treats me as an equal."

There was a long pause as Dick glanced at the television screen, still looping the footage of Superman hovering next to the space shuttle and pulling out the cargo bay with one hand.

"I would imagine so," he said slowly.

"Do you think that's why I agree with you about the kids overreacting?" Clark asked reasonably.

Dick expelled a short breath, like a balloon deflating.

"No," he admitted.

"Do you think it's just possible that there's no connection in your case either?"

"You can't tell me he's not capable of that kind of manipulation," Dick insisted.

"Yes, I'm sure he is," Clark admitted. "_I'm_ capable of having started that fire this morning just to get away from that house before I became permanently indentured to Selina's wildlife refuge. Doesn't mean that's what I did."

It was Dick's turn to laugh, and he drained his glass.

"Point," he declared, and reached for his wallet. "I guess I do have to talk to Bruce. Find out for sure."

Looking down at the table, he saw that Clark had already picked up the check and was counting out bills from his own wallet.

"You do realize," Dick sighed, "that if you're right, I've become as paranoid as he is."

Clark froze, mid-count, and looked searchingly at Dick.

"Yes, I suppose you have," he said warmly, "so on the way back, I'd like to put a hypothetical before you, involving Catwoman and tigers, and see if you can explain to me why nobody sees this the way I do."

* * *

Bruce mounted the stairs to the upper floor of the manor in the same mental state in which he'd once swung towards Selina Kyle's balcony. Those first visits to her apartment after patrol, PsychoBat screaming in his head to just _ turn around and go home_, the night's work was finished and nothing good could come of seeing her this way, informally and unofficially. Sooner or later, he would let his guard down and then what? A little more and a little more, before long it would become a habit. Before he knew it, he'd be facing Catwoman on some rooftop with a lootbag full of other people's valuables and his resolve would waver. He'd drop his defenses when he shouldn't and wind up plummeting down to the street, possibly discovering too late that she'd sabotaged his grapnel launcher too. It was many years since PsychoBat's misgivings about Catwoman had changed, faded, and finally dissolved to nothing. But the sensation Bruce felt now was still hauntingly familiar: his body moving automatically along a familiar path to Selina, tuning out the Bat's dark warnings in his mind. He knew in his heart that as much as PsychoBat was completely right, he was completely wrong as well… and so, slowly and deliberately, Bruce would close that door in his mind where the hate and suspicion burned like a fire.

The door to the suite was open, and Bruce put his hand on the doorframe rather than knocking on it. Selina was playing with Nutmeg, but it took her only a second to notice him. He gave Nutmeg's ball a light, careless kick as if he didn't see it. It went rolling out the door and the cat chased after it.

"Well?" Selina asked curiously.

He said nothing but went on studying her.

"I'll remind you that we now have six tigers if you need to dispose of a body," she said with a naughty grin.

Still he said nothing.

"Bruce! Come on, I have to know. What happened?"

"Nothing much," he said at last, echoing her earlier answer about Tim. "I let him know his options for a confidant aren't as limited as he seems to think. He can talk to any of a number of men who have been maneuvered into taxis and limos over the years by Muffy, Penny, Binky, Bunny and the rest of them. Ergo, he can leave you alone."

"Thanks," Selina grinned. "I will admit that hearing sordid details of Eddie's sex life isn't exactly what I think of when the dog bites or the bee stings."

"You might have mentioned his 'new black' theory after the opera, by the way."

"Well, you might have mentioned Clark was coming to offer me tigers," she replied casually.

Behind that closed door in Bruce's mind, PsychoBat's indignation burned a little hotter than before. The implied comparison between Clark – that would be _Superman's secret identity_, which _he revealed to her _because he was bringing her fully and openly into all areas of his life – and "Eddie," her little pet name for The Riddler, the _criminal_ who she invited _into his house… _And then, a cold afterthought freezing over that burning indignation: He invited a criminal into his house first. He brought Catwoman into his house in the first place, freely and willingly. Just like he'd put that gold bar in the safe in the first place.

"It's completely wrong," Bruce announced sourly, shutting out the hideous thoughts in a brusque return to the subject. "Rogues are the new black? Only Nigma's ego could come up with that."

"You don't buy it?" Selina asked curiously. "You must admit, there's a pattern. There's you and me, there's—"

"Yes Kitten, exactly. There's _you_ and _me_. Look at the other Rogues in question. Two-Face and Riddler aren't random Batman adversaries, they're _your friends_. Claudia might have honestly looked at Harvey initially as a single, straight, Harvard man with a presentable wardrobe who can order off a wine list. But I know these women. It doesn't take them long to notice who only gets a smile in the receiving line and whose table I'll stop at and chat for ten minutes, who gets an invitation to the winter ball and who's invited to the dinner before and the after party later."

"I don't understand, you're saying—"

"That Harvey and Nigma are a way to get close to _you_ – and by extension get close to me. That's why Claudia 'traded up' when she saw Nigma sitting with you at the opera. That's what social climbers do."

Selina laughed.

"Okay, I think there's just a touch of ego in _your_ theory too, Stud, but we'll let that go because it does make more sense. But, we are not telling Eddie that you're the reason he just got laid for the first time in 20 months."

"I have no intention of telling Nigma anything. I wanted him out of the house; I told him as much as was necessary to accomplish that. Beyond that, he can keep his theory. It's not my place or in anything approaching my interest to help Edward Nigma with his love life."

"It's not exactly help. Just letting him know a fairly important piece of information about what's going on. First holding back on Clark and the tigers, now this."

"They have nothing to do with each other," Bruce insisted angrily. "Why do you keep linking them?"

"It just seems like something's going on with you lately," Selina said, ignoring the anger. "And I'd like to know what it is."

Bruce sighed.

"Selina, the Catitat is yours, entirely yours. It's your special place, and now that I'm paying for it, I wasn't about to come around a week later asking favors for the League."

He didn't add that he'd put her name on that checking account so that he wouldn't have to see, hear about, touch, or think of those gold bars again. Gold bars he'd offered "for the Catitat" as a plausible incentive to lead her to uncover his Ivy predicament. Gold bars, one of which had been hidden in that safe. He didn't need the reminder, so when she mentioned paying taxes on the Catitat, he'd blurted "use the checkbook" to make the whole subject go away…

"Whereas with Nigma," he continued, "I will repeat that it is not my place to help the man out with his private life. I wanted him out of the house. I achieved that. If you find it necessary to inform him that these socialites are throwing themselves at him in order to get close to you and therefore me, that's not my concern. I would only ask that you not ask him to tea in the drawing room to do it."

"Is this because I brought him to the opera?" Selina asked suddenly.

"What?" Bruce exclaimed. Here he was trying to explain how Clark and Riddler were in no way comparable and that his behavior in relation to either in no way constituted a pattern. What did the opera have to do with anything?

"It just seems like you're a lot pissier than usual," Selina said simply. "The opera house is special for us. I wondered if maybe you're upset that I asked him to go in your place."

"Or maybe you're upset that I didn't go with you?" Bruce asked shrewdly.

"I've never been a 'Muffy' that way," Selina replied defensively.

"And I've never treated you like a Muffy," Bruce said firmly. "Remember the tiger bites? It was a real mission, Selina, not a plausible excuse."

"I never asked if it was. It didn't even occur to me to—"

"I wasn't avoiding the opera," Bruce insisted.

Nutmeg trotted back into the room and, rather than respond to Bruce, Selina picked up the cat and stroked her chin.

"I wasn't avoiding the opera, I wasn't avoiding our special place, I wasn't avoiding you," Bruce repeated.

"Okay," Selina said quietly.

While no crimefighter, she was fairly sure denying something (twice) that you hadn't even been accused of was as good as a confession.

* * *

Harvey didn't have a nightmare about Two-Face but he did sleep in until two and then stared malevolently at the clock with that chance thought "_Happy Fate" _echoing in his head. Harvey was a pessimist. He was happy, more than not, that the healing had removed Two-Face from his life, but the idea that his life had _actually turned around_, that his _luck_ had turned, that he was no longer "Fate's Bitch" as Selina once declared, it was strangely terrifying. If the Worst wasn't lurking around the corner to splash his face with acid, then what was? If Devastation wasn't getting out of a double-decker bus even now, double checking the address on a little slip of paper and preparing to knock twice on his door, then —

_Knock Knock_

Harvey felt the air tighten his lungs.

_Knock Knock Knock_

Okay. Well. Three knocks were better than two.

"Harvey, are you home?" asked a more resplendent and beautiful voice than any heard the night before at the opera.

"Nigma is that you?" he called, moving to the door.

"SPRIER US," came the typically riddling reply. "Surprise, that is," Eddie added once the door was open. "Not interrupting anything, am I? I mean, if you've got company—"

"No, we're quite alone," Harvey answered, stepping aside to usher his friend in.

Eddie raised a sharp eyebrow, and Harvey winced realizing he'd relapsed into the plural.

"Oh that's nothing," he said with a dismissive gesture. "I just got up."

After the obligatory round of "You're sure it's not a bad time?" "No really, I insist," and finally an offer and acceptance of coffee, they settled down at Harvey's kitchen table, and Eddie looked around for a conversation starter.

"This place would've made quite the base for Two-Face," he observed. "Lots of room. Hardest part devising a decent bat-trap, so many spaces in the city are so cramped. That's fine if you're content to drop him through a trapdoor as soon as he steps inside, but I like to make him wander a little bit."

"The theatre isn't for sale," Harvey said flatly.

"Oh I wasn't asking. Just making chit-chat," Eddie said lightly. "Chit-chat, CAT HITCH, you know. Devising a good bat-trap isn't as easy as people think. What did you always find the hardest part?"

"Keeping Darth from going 'two out of three' when the coin flip didn't go his way," Harvey said acidly. "Eddie look, I think I know why you're here."

Eddie blanched. How could Harvey know? He couldn't know. He'd only got as far as bat-traps, he didn't even make the transition from CAT HITCH to Selina…

"About Muffy," Harvey was saying.

….CAT HITCH to Selina, how nice Selina looked at the opera and that led to their being in Bruce's box, which introduced Bruce as a subject and Bruce and Selina as a couple and—Muffy? Muffy? Oh yes, Muffy…

"What do you call ivory lace with little rosebuds?" Eddie murmured absently, reverting to a riddling format instinctively although there was no answer to his query.

"As you probably guessed," Harvey said with a gruff cough, "it was very casual. We had five, six dates since the Post party. Two ships that pass, that's all. Still, it was awfully good of you to come by this morning."

"Y-yes," Eddie said, grasping at the excuse. "That's exactly why I came by this morning, to make sure we were okay because I went home with Muffy, and Muffy had been with you."

"Right," Harvey said, slightly confused by the formal recitation.

"Well good," Eddie said with a gamely nod. How was he going to get the conversation back to bats, cats, Selina and Wayne?

"You know the love story is a tacked on complication in that opera last night," he said, tossing out the first thought that came to mind. "Original story was just about the crime. Hermann. Obsession. Guess that was too straightforward for everybody so they toss in this girl, make it a love story that really just gets in the way of everything."

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it," Harvey admitted.

"You don't find it gets in the way?" Eddie asked petulantly.

"To tell the truth I wasn't really paying attention. I'm not into opera. I had a transistor radio in my pocket. Knights were playing."

"Well take my word for it, the HE TRY TO SOLVE love story messes up everything."

"More coffee?" Harvey suggested.

"Selina looked good," Eddie noted as Harvey got up to get the coffee pot.

"She always does," Harvey agreed.

"She always looks good but not that good. That was special. The dress, the hair, the creamy shoulders, that was… unprecedented. Wayne's a lucky bastard."

Eddie watched closely for a reaction, but Harvey just poured coffee into the mugs without saying a word.

"He had to work," Eddie tried again. "That's why he couldn't go last night. Business trip."

"Busy man, it happens," Harvey said lightly.

"Yes, I suppose." The words came out sour and disapproving, and although Eddie detested Bruce Wayne more and more by the minute, it was his frustration with the Harvey situation which caused that marked undercurrent of bitterness in his tone. He had to be subtle, just in case Harvey didn't know. And the most casual approaches to "Bruce Wayne" as a topic of conversation were the Opera and the Gotham Post party. Eddie had hoped to avoid the party, seeing as Harvey met Claudia there and any talk of the costumes was bound to evoke her gloriously leafy rendition of Poison Ivy. There had to be some way to hint about Wayne without getting near Claudia – although, the crashing afterthought sounded in his head, it was obviously a little late to worry about getting near Claudia. It was like leaving the riddle _after_ robbing the concert hall. But the opera talk was getting them nowhere. There was no other choice if Eddie wanted to get some answers.

"I'd have to say the last time I saw Selina looking that good was that Post shindig. Of course she always looks her best in the purple, wouldn't you say? No wonder Bats goes tripping over his cape."

"I, eh, never thought about it," Harvey said cautiously.

"Never thought about it? Harvey, every man not yet decrepit has _thought_ about it."

"Some thinking I left to Darth," Harvey murmured uncomfortably.

"Wayne dressing as Bats to match her though, must say I thought that was a stumble. Bruce Wayne made a silly looking excuse for a Batman, don't you think?"

"I didn't notice," Harvey demurred, drinking his coffee uncomfortably.

"I'm just saying it takes a special kind of man to match a woman like Selina. Some ordinary Joe isn't gonna make the cut."

"Bruce is hardly what I'd call an ordinary Joe," Harvey said loyally.

"You don't say," Eddie said darkly.

* * *

…to be continued…


	5. All Kinds of Denial

**The New Black**_  
Chapter 5: All Kinds of Denial_

* * *

I never saw any point in denying a cat crime. Catwoman's exploits are nothing to be ashamed of, I'm the best thief in the country, some say in the world. The pearls and Picassos, Rembrandts and Romanov emeralds I acquired were the finest prizes any catburglar could aspire to, and the security I defeated to get them was the best in the existence. So I never bothered with denials if Batman burst into a catlair and said the Austrian Embassy wanted their crown jewels back.

But if I _had_ wanted to deny it, I would have known better than to say I'd never even seen the Rudolf II crown made of pure gold enameled with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls. I certainly wouldn't have added that I didn't touch the imperial orb either, or the sceptre, crown, and lance of the Holy Roman Empire, and an unpedigreed but pretty ruby necklace the Austrian ambassador bought for his mistress and was keeping in the same safe over the weekend. I can only assume that a detective of Batman's insight would find that kind of specific and preemptive denial transparent – and somewhat rude. It would be unworthy of a thief like Catwoman. It would be unworthy of a crimefighter like Batman.

Fastforward to Bruce in my suite rather than Batman in a catlair. "I wasn't avoiding the opera, I wasn't avoiding our special place, I wasn't avoiding you."

I didn't know what to think, how to feel or what to say. He's been so sweet and attentive since the Ivy mess. He's been busy, sure, but that's never been anything to be suspicious of. Batman gets busy sometimes, so does Bruce Wayne. When he _is_ around, he's been loving and thoughtful. It's been like those early weeks when we first started dating. I let myself believe it was all exactly as it seemed. I let myself believe Bruce was happy that I was the one who saved him from Ivy. I let myself think that… oh, hell.

_"I didn't take the crown jewels from the Austrian embassy"_ and _"I wasn't avoiding the opera" _aren't the only kinds of denial.

* * *

Butlers aren't psychic, not exactly. Not like the soothsayer in an Elizabethan tragedy warning the hero to _beware the coming of midday for the visitor from the skies shall surely come again_. It's simply that, immersed as any butler must be in the day-to-day detail of his employer's life, he evolves a certain sense for these things. Alfred was quite sure that at least one or two of the morning's visitors would be returning, so he wasn't surprised when the kitchen door swung open. No one had been in the cave when Superman's return triggered the sensors, and Master Dick didn't feel the need to ring the doorbell. And yet, when the pair came into the kitchen with a cheery "knock knock, we're back," Alfred merely nodded as if he'd been expecting them. He offered them refreshment, showed them to the library and morning room respectively, and then went to fetch Miss Selina and Master Bruce. He told Miss Selina that Superman had returned and was waiting in the morning room to resume their earlier dialogue. He informed Master Bruce that Master Dick wanted a word in the library. Strictly speaking, that is where his responsibility ended, the visitors sorted into the appropriate rooms and the Master and Mistress duly informed. Yet Alfred still hovered in the hall midway between the two rooms, sensing with that butler's acuity that he would still be needed.

He was immediately proven right as Bruce crossed the Great Hall and saw Selina coming down the stairs. Alfred saw them exchange a few words of pleasant acknowledgement, during which Alfred held his breath… and then permitted himself an irate-but-restrained exhale too quiet to be called a sigh. Master Bruce had clearly learned that Miss Selina was going to see Superman. Even from Alfred's position in the hall, the shift in his demeanor was obvious: his neck tensed, his jaw stiffened, his weight shifted towards the morning room, and then he followed Selina without so much as glancing at the library. Alfred slipped quietly into the room and informed Master Dick that he did not think Bruce would be joining him promptly. It might be best, Alfred suggested, if Master Dick joined the others in the morning room.

* * *

Claws.

Claws…

If there are no anagrams for claws, did that make it better or worse? What special hell was in store for him when Selina sliced him to ribbons and he hadn't even the consolation of a single anagram? These questions flitted absently in the back of Eddie's mind while he gave his full attention to the true riddle of the day: **How could he fix this? **

Harvey. Very Ha.

There had to be a way to fix the situation with Harvey. Selina – or possibly Bruce – possibly Bruce _and_ Selina – but most likely just Selina – would kill him if he didn't. At least death by claws and batarangs yielded hundreds of anagrams…

* * *

It was frustrating. Dick knew well enough that when Bruce was "supervising" that was it. Whether it was your first solo on a new level of Zogger, surveillance on a Joker target, or infiltrating the perimeter of a DEMON compound, it was just the same: he was focused _on this_ and nothing else would take priority. Dick couldn't see that there was anything to supervise in the morning room; Superman was just talking through details of this tiger thing with Selina. When and how the animals would be arriving, specifics on landscaping he was volunteering at the Catitat, it was all pretty dull stuff. So Dick tried to pull Bruce aside, casually and quietly. With a look, with a smile, and finally with a casual prompt.

"Bruce, can I have a minute?"

It didn't work. Just like when he was Robin chattering about school or something to pass the time during a long surveillance. There would be a word or two, as if Batman really was listening, a non-descript movement of the right hand, and the briefest flicker of the eyes. But after that split-second considering whatever he'd said, Batman clearly found it not-urgent-compared-to-this because his attention riveted right back on the warehouse, office building, or loading dock… or in this case, Superman talking Kryptonian fist-diamonds with Selina.

"There is a collector in Hong Kong that always wants to buy up any specimens I create, so you could always go that route to convert the diamonds into cash," Superman was saying.

"The Gotham diamond district handles gem trade for the whole country," Selina answered lightly. "I'm sure I'll have no problem finding a buyer. If Hong Kong wants them, they can try their luck with the dealers on 47th Street. Least I can do for those fellas considering all I've taken over the years."

Bruce's mood darkened perceptibly at the mention of the diamond district and Selina's familiarity with it. Dick couldn't know it was because the district was the first subject Batman and Catwoman discussed when they began their "Walapang" arrangement. He only knew a darker Batman vibe was suddenly emanating from the easy chair, and that Selina and Superman were too engrossed in their conversation to notice.

"Bruce," Dick tried again, "the dietary requirements of Bengal tigers in captivity doesn't really interest me. Could we hop downstairs, have a word in private?"

Selina said Bengals in most zoos subsist on chicken, horsemeat and kangaroo five days a week and fast on bones for two. Superman said the animals had been badly starved by the Dhumavati cult and the Star Labs guys thought it would take a while to ease them onto a healthy eating schedule. Bruce repeated that not-now-Robin/surveillance-comes-first gesture.

"Bruce," Dick tried again.

Selina asked how the animals had been penned, because tigers are solitary in the wild, not living in prides or groups except when mating or raising their young. Superman said they were living together in the Dhumanvati compound. Bruce clarified that they were together when Batman and Superman encountered them in the death maze, but they had no knowledge of where or how they were kept before that…

"Bruce," Dick repeated.

…other than not having enough food, Selina mentioned. Yes, besides that, Superman agreed.

Dick had enough. Without even realizing it, he'd tapped Bruce brusquely on the shoulder and when that produced only another vague gesture, he grunted. Bruce turned, and Dick heard his own voice adopting a dark bat gravel as he declared, "Cave. Talk. Now."

* * *

Yep, 'Death by claws and batarangs' yielded hundreds of anagrams. Extravagant anagrams with CANDALABRA, BAD ANGST and GRAND ATTACHABLE WANDS. Not that there was any satisfaction in that. The only satisfaction to be had was solving the underlying puzzle: How to fix the Harvey mess so the aforementioned death by claws and batarangs would never occur…

* * *

The first thing they teach you working at a place like Arkham is that you mustn't blame yourself. The patients were dangerously psychotic to begin with. Whatever progress you made, there could always be setbacks, and with these particular psychoses, backsliding would often be grisly life-threatening affairs. The psychotherapist must not blame himself. He must remember always that whatever was said or not said in session, whatever he saw or didn't see in a patient's demeanor, it was ultimately the Joker, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow or whoever that gassed the stadium, blew up the theatre, or tossed the innocent bystander off a bridge.

That was well and good, Dr. Bartholomew reflected, except that in Roxy Rocket's case the violent episode _really was his fault_. It had nothing to do with her recovery from a Type-T thrill-addiction complicated by aggravated entitlement responses stemming from acute insecurity, a heightened adrenaline reliance and panic fetish overtones. It resulted from his going to her for directions to the Iceberg Lounge. She'd wound up in the infirmary, the victim of a Joker attack, because of him. Technically because she was gossiping about him and Raven, which was just another way of saying because of him. Even if her injuries weren't severe, they were entirely his fault and he was making her recovery his first priority. The schedule he set up was based loosely on the fast-track rehabilitation program, but in Roxy's case he would make sure that there was no automation in the process. There would be no blind checking of boxes, no passing her through for completion of a level without truly achieving its goals, no credit given for participation without true progress. He would personally see to it.

* * *

Bruce was not happy.

"Cave. Talk. Now." As soon as the words were spoken, Dick tried to pass it off as a joke, but Bruce could see something was up and clearly he had to deal with it before it produced anything worse. He was not happy about it. Clark's earlier visit had confirmed his worse fears about the trainwreck potential in a Superman/Catitat scenario, even if Selina didn't have a hair-trigger on the subject. But rather than being in the morning room keeping an eye on the situation, he'd been dragged off for this tête-à-tête with Dick. What's worse, "Cave. Talk. Now" had acted on Dick like the Dhumavati vanquishing spell (backed up by cat's eye kryptonite) acted on Superman. Aware that he'd essentially "pulled a Bruce," Dick was now overcompensating, adopting an easy sincerity and non-confrontational candor that was… beyond unnerving.

"Look, I agree that Tim and Cassie, and even Helena and Barbara, are overreacting to the new procedures. But I also know there's something more behind all of this. So what is it?"

Beyond unnerving.

In pure shock, Bruce expanded the kneejerk "Nothing" for an entire four sentences, specifying that the team's reaction was entirely consistent and expected, that it had happened before both in Gotham, as Dick well knew, and in the Justice League any time there was a crackdown, and concluding that "Just because I'm tightening up some procedures doesn't mean anything is wrong —other than a well-meaning Kryptonian upstairs paving the morning room with good intentions."

"C'mon, Bruce. It's me you're talking to. All the rest of it, okay, you're tightening up procedures because we've all gotten lax lately, fine. But excess Zogger? Bruce, it's me. There is a _history_ of excess Zogger drills. It means something's on your mind that you don't want to talk about and that something goes meow."

"Dick, I've been more than patient with this little 'intervention' but there is a limit," Bruce said firmly.

"Fine, Bruce, you don't want to talk about it or maybe you just don't want to talk to me. But you need to do _something_ about it because it's starting to bleed over into the rest of the team."

"If what I saw of Tim's performance this morning is any indication, the team could use the practice," came the graveling reply.

Dick sighed.

"I'm not disputing that, Bruce. I am 100 percent behind whatever you think is necessary to improve the team. It's not about the changes, it's about what they mean. If you don't want to talk to me fine, I just want you to admit the situation exists and deal with it somehow before—"

"This conversation is over," Bruce said abruptly. It was different from the earlier replies. A density shift had occurred and the voice wasn't just Batman, it was a no-nonsense _if you have something to say, say it later, right now take the rebreather, fire a line, and don't ask questions_ Batman. Dick reverted instinctively into alert obedience and followed Bruce's eyes. He saw an alert flashing at Workstation 2, and the feed from a closed circuit camera showing a taxi driving through the front gate.

"Aw damn, extra visitor," Dick said. It was inconvenient, an interruption, but that's all it was. He didn't see any cause for the foreboding gravel of the PsychoBat.

* * *

Upstairs, Alfred greeted the new guest with polite formality, but he was genuinely pleased under the stoic veneer. He had feared the new knock at the door might be a returning Guest #3, Edward Nigma. This visitor was a very different prospect. Alfred showed him to the north wing, thinking to keep him isolated from the other guests, but as they walked down the hall, the gentleman noticed color and movement in one of the rooms. He said nothing at the time, but once they reached the north drawing room, he voiced his curiosity.

"Was that Superman?" he asked in whispered awe.

Alfred could see no credible way to deny it. It was plausible that Superman was in the house, having some business with Master Bruce or Miss Selina. It was not plausible that Alfred could have opened the door for the Man of Steel and not known who he was. So he murmured a suitably restrained "I believe so, sir" and then withdrew.

* * *

So I finally got Superman to understand about the trees. Tigers are solitary; they prefer to live and hunt alone and communicate with each other by scent. Tree trunks are popular for marking and they're effective scratching posts for sharpening claws. Introducing six new tigers into the Catitat meant there would be six new tiger _territories _in the Catitat and a lot of marking going on. Current loathing for Pammy notwithstanding, I'd be needing some trees. Old trees. Big trees. I had to remind him what a fully-grown Bengal was capable of, because he was talking about some new growths from a magazine syndicate's paper forest in Canada.

"Remember the deathtrap, Spitcurl: teeth, claws, body armor shredded like tinfoil, Bruce's thigh shredded like hamburger. I need _ trees_. At the risk of sounding like Poison Ivy, I need tall, noble, strong, large, wide trees. Not seedlings planted last year to become next year's Neiman Marcus catalog."

He had this little smile like he finally understood, but Alfred had stepped into the room. Before Superman could say a word, we heard that soft cough that meant if it wasn't too much trouble, Alfred would like to have the floor.

"Excuse me for interrupting, sir, miss," he said formally. "A Mister Dent is here to see Miss Selina."

Great. I was just thinking earlier how I missed Harvey, but at this moment another (quasi)-rogue guest was the last thing I needed. I glanced warily at the be-caped spectacle standing by the fireplace, but it was suddenly Clark Kent standing there instead. Ten thousand Bat-entrances and exits that make other people jump, and I've never batted an eye. That Super-switch, I let out a gasp. Alfred just gave that little cough again.

"My apologies, sir," he said dryly, "but I believe Mr. Dent did notice the distinct suggestion of a red and blue costume as we passed the door to this room, and expressed his curiosity as to what Superman might be doing here."

"So much for that," I started to say— but only a syllable in, Clark Kent had vanished and Superman stood in his place again.

"Stop that," I hissed.

* * *

They began with Roxy's lack of "star status" as a Rogue. When Roxy Rocket committed a crime, it didn't warrant Bat-attention. The "juniors" usually swept up her messes. Which she'd noticed.

"There's only one upside to the junior bats, Doc," she declared philosophically. "If you've ever been beaten up by Batgirl, the possibility that you could die definitely crosses your mind…"

_Archetypal Type-T response. _

"Nine or ten times…"

_Thrill-addict._

"In the course of one punch…"

_Adrenaline reliance._

"And the resulting flight backwards…"

_Panic Fetish_

"Into whatever very hard object is behind you." And then:

"You can't hold your head up with the likes of the Penguin and Scarecrow and Poison Ivy…"

_Typical insecurity._

"…not daring to even mention a heavy hitter like the Joker, when the last six times you've been busted it was either Batgirl, Robin and Batgirl, Black Canary and Batgirl, or Officer Dempsey and two actresses on a ride along."

_Er right… insecurity of a fundamentally stunted individual dependent on outside validation._

"And one of them recognized me from this episode of Charmed I did a few years back. Turns out she was playing the half-demon fortuneteller I was doubling that got incinerated by a fireball."

_Eh… yes… requiring validation from others because she herself lacks adult ego-structure._

"And this ride along they're on is because they're going to be starring as lady cops in a new series, and they're sure to need a good stuntwoman of that height and build. If I'd be free by the time the shooting starts, maybe they could put in a good word."

"And THEN they start asking Officer Dempsey how long he thinks I'll be up the river, cause the second unit starts shooting for the pilot in July. That is NOT a story you tell at the Iceberg over a couple a brews, Doc."

"So when I got some grade-A prime dish like you and Raven, I'm gonna by-god spread the joy!!

* * *

Alfred said Harvey caught a glimpse of Superman's costume and was curious. Alfred has a knack for understatement. Harvey was so curious it had pushed whatever he came to talk about right out of his head. I walked in the room and the first words out of his mouth were:

"Why's Superman– Oh, I mean, Hi Selina. You look lovely today. Why is Superman here?"

"Hi," I said, accepting an air kiss. I saw no reason to make up a story. The truth worked fine, so I told him Superman was trying to place some tigers at the Catitat. "'Free to good home.' Long story."

We sat down. The pleasantries were finished and it was clearly Harvey's turn to talk; he'd come to see me, after all. But instead of getting to the point, he said he'd seen Superman on the news earlier. "He was in Florida. Something with the space shuttle."

I was starting to think this wasn't enthusiasm for Superman _as Superman_ so much as enthusiasm for Superman as a stalling tactic, when Harvey confirmed it. He took a deep breath, reached out impulsively, and grabbed my hand.

"Selina, this is kind of awkward, the history being what it is. Me and Bruce. You and Bruce. We were bachelor buddies once and then of course Darth came along and you and I were Rogue buddies… Eddie, the Iceberg, Batman's adversaries, crime and criminals. It's all _very_ complicated."

That's not the kind of intro you want to hear at any time, but especially not on a day that's already seen "ease the tension," "I slept with Muffy," Bruce and Eddie doing the James Bond baccarat table, and let's not forget "Oh no, Kitten, I wasn't avoiding our special place at the opera."

"You and Bruce are complicated," Harvey went on. "Did you know Eddie and I came over here one day when you two first got together, made sure he knew the rules. We figured an ordinary guy like that, tossed into the deep end with Catwoman and all…"

I really wanted my hand back. But pulling it away didn't seem like a good idea.

"An ordinary guy like that," Harvey repeated. "The thing is Selina, I'm so fond of you both. Bruce was my friend first. You and I only met after Two-Face came into the picture, but still. I think of you as a kid sister, you know that. And I'd do just about anything to protect my kid sister."

"Harvey," I began, but then I couldn't think of how to continue. Part of me wanted to remind him that I don't need protecting, part of me wanted to tell him to get to the point, and part of me wanted to get my damn hand back so I could demonstrate a proper face-clawing technique.

Harvey took a deep breath, gave my fingers an unnerving squeeze, and then released me, stood up, and paced. After several agitated steps back and forth in front of the fireplace, he spun around and said, "Something's up with Eddie that both of you should know about."

Shit. Something's up with Eddie. All I could think of was his visit earlier. _"Me. Muffy. Sex."_ But nobody'd said a word about Claudia Muffington, not one word. All Harvey had been talking about was me and Bruce. What could Claudia and Eddie's embarrassing back-of-taxi adventure possibly have to do with… Uh oh.

Something's up with Eddie that _both of you_ should know about.

I didn't like where this was going.

"Why would Bruce possibly need to know about Eddie?" I asked lightly.

"Like I said, I'm fond of you both, Selina. But Bruce was really just a cohort when I was riding high as an up and coming politico. But you… Selina, if it wasn't for your friendship, I don't know how I would've stayed sane through the Darth years. I'd hate to see anything happen to Bruce on general principle, he's a pal, but mostly I'd hate to see any harm come to him because of what it would do to you."

No, I did not like where this was going. The only thing that could possibly be worse happened next: a heavy, familiar footstep in the hallway, coming towards the door. Clup Clup Clup… and there was Bruce.

"Harvey, how are you?" he said warmly, "Alfred told me you stopped by, what a wonderful surprise."

* * *

"Hi!" Eddie said, with a bright chipper smile, while the imposing figure who answered the door regarded him with a grim frown. "Your name was Pennyworth, right? Nice name. Catchy. You may remember that mine is Nigma. I was here earlier."

"I recall your visit, sir."

"Yes. Thought you would."

"I regret to inform you, sir, that Mr. Wayne and Miss Selina are not at home."

"Oh but they are, Pennyworth. They're in there right now, I know that."

"Allow me to rephrase, sir. They are not at home to visitors."

"That's just it, they're in there right now with a visitor, with Harvey Dent, and that's why I've got to warn them. It's all my fault, don't you see? I've got to warn them about Harvey, that's why I came back!"

Alfred pursed his lips, and adjusted his weight for leverage against the door.

"I regret, Mr. Nigma, that I am forced to speak plainly. Neither Mr. Wayne nor Miss Selina are at home _to you_."

"What if I said I forgot my reading glasses?" Eddie tried desperately.

In reply, Alfred took a swift step backward while swinging the door to shut with a resounding slam in Eddie's face.

* * *

Bruce offered his hand, a bright borderline-Fop smile on his face, a marked contrast to the icy politeness he'd used with Eddie.

"Bruce," Harvey replied, a little forced but genial.

Then there was a pause. The loaded pause that even non-detectives recognize as _'We were talking about you right before you walked in.'_

"I hear you were at the opera last night," Bruce said, blithely ending the stalemate as if he wasn't aware of anything awkward. "I'm so sorry to have missed it," he added cheerfully.

It was so light and casual, so socially correct, but the simple remark unleashed a cyclone of layered tension that left me longing for the baccarat table. First there was Muffy, Harvey was at the opera with Muffy – who Eddie slept with. Then there was Bruce missing the opera – and I'd gone with Eddie, who slept with Muffy. Then there was Bruce missing the opera so I went with Eddie as in _"Something's up with Eddie that both of you should know about." _And finally, the one I probably shouldn't have been worrying about at that point but the one that, for me, overshadowed all the rest: there was Bruce missing the opera as in _"I'm not avoiding our special place and not avoiding you."_

"Oh, you didn't miss much," Harvey said, presumably to diffuse the lingering tension. "Soprano was off. Say, did you know the love story was tacked on as an afterthought? Original story was just about the crime. Hermann. Obsession."

I bit my lip. Without looking I could imagine PsychoBat's blood pressure surge at this delayed echo from his verbal duel with Eddie.

"I do recall hearing that at some point," Bruce said airily.

"Some say the love story gets in the way, but I eh… Well, actually, I don't have an opinion either way. I was listening to the Knights game."

It went on. They chatted for maybe a minute about the Knights' chances in the playoffs, and then something happened I can only attribute to a hallucination. I thought I saw Eddie. This particular drawing room has a view of the garden maze, and I was so OVER this nightmare of a day, stuck in yet another weird Bruce/Rogue tête-à-tête that I must have flashed on the previous one. In amongst the deep green of the tall maze hedges, I thought I saw a lighter green, Riddler green, just for a second, moving towards the house. The men were still talking sports. Bruce simply would not look my way to get the _˜˜putting out fires here, get out˜˜_ signal. So I did the next best thing to get rid of him:

"Guess what Dear, Superman is in the morning room. Why don't you go keep him company."

Yes, I do know that PsychoBat popped a blood vessel right then. I figured I'd deal with that _later_. For now, it got him out of the room. Bruce gave a magnificent performance as a worldly sophisticate who is thrilled beyond words at the thought of Superman in his home but is trying to carry it off with jaded indifference. Once he was out the door, I turned to Harvey.

"So, where were we?" I asked cautiously.

"I was about to talk to you in a way you won't like," he replied.

"Like a big brother?" I guessed.

"No, like a district attorney," he said seriously. "You know I don't include you when I say this, Selina, so don't be insulted…." He cleared his throat importantly – and I saw that movement outside the window again, Riddler green, and bigger than before. "Criminals are dangerous," he said severely. "Especially when they want something they're not going to get. I like Eddie personally, I know you do too. But Selina, he is a dangerous Rogue."

I wanted to say "No shit, Sherlock," but I couldn't say a word. Eddie, the dangerous Rogue, was outside the window. It wasn't my imagination playing tricks; it wasn't just the green of his suit. I could see all of him now, face, body, and bowler hat, pressed against the window, finger to his lips in an absurd shushing gesture.

"First," I told Harvey, trying to stay focused. "I'm a dangerous Rogue too, so if you really don't want to insult me, don't go excluding me from the sweeping indictment. And not only am I a dangerous Rogue, Harvey my pet, so were you. What does any of this have to do with— uh…"

I floundered because Eddie was waving his arms now, like New Year's Eve charades. The first word… sounded like… sharpening knives?

"Um," I sputtered, trying to remember where I left off with Harvey. He reached out and took my hand again.

"You and Bruce have a problem with Eddie," he said soberly.

Outside the window, Eddie gave up on charades and mouthed: "We have a problem with Harvey."

"No, I'm sure we don't," I told Harvey, trying to sound just as sober as he had, but afraid I sounded like the sputtering floozy in a sex farce covering for her naked lover hiding in the linen closet.

"Yes, you really do," Harvey said definitely.

"No, we really don't," I countered.

"You do." "We don't." And he laughed.

"Selina, why didn't we ever team up back in the day? We dance divinely."

"Yes, we do," I agreed, offering a naughty grin that I hoped would keep his eyes on me and away from the window (where Eddie was apparently signaling a ten yard penalty for roughing the kicker). "We dance divinely, Harvey, but I don't think you would have liked my working that closely with 'Darth Duplicity'. Besides, if your half started enjoying yourself on a crime spree, it might have messed up the whole feng shui with the coin. I can see the headline now: Two-Face switches to Dice, Catwoman to blame."

He smiled.

"It was Darth Duality," he corrected, then the smile faded. "You have a problem with Eddie," he intoned.

My own smile faded too. He'd said it like the prophet of doom in a Greek tragedy, a delivery he's mastered from years of practice. I decided I really had no choice but to let him continue.

"Well?" I asked.

"Selina…"

"Yes?" I prompted impatiently.

"Eddie is in love with you."

* * *

…to be continued…


	6. Happier Not Knowing

**The New Black**_  
Chapter 6: Happier not knowing_

* * *

"Eddie is in love with you."

That, according to Harvey, was the problem I had with Edward Nigma. He even thought Bruce could be in danger, apparently because criminals are dangerous when they want something they won't be getting and Eddie might decide to eliminate the competition. What chance would a civilian like Bruce Wayne have against a ruthless criminal…

Exactly _how_ Eddie banging Harvey's date in the back of a taxi after a post-opera Iceberg foursome had somehow been transmogrified into Eddie being in love _with me_, that's one of those Only-in-Gotham mysteries that I'm just as happy not knowing. What I did know was that the problem with Eddie _as I saw it_ was a lot more urgent than Harvey's view. The problem as I saw it was that Eddie was standing outside the window signaling pass interference or possibly – ironically – too many players on the field.

I assured Harvey I could handle it. I said I was quite sure Eddie was not in love with me (although an offside kick wasn't out of the realm of possibility), but if I was wrong I had plenty of experience dismissing unwanted suitors and not once had blood been spilt in the process… At least, I _think_ that's what I told him. As I was talking, Superman had lowered slowly into frame behind Eddie, so I think I can be excused if I don't have a perfect recall on what I said at that moment. It was all I could do to keep from reacting as Superman grabbed the back of Eddie's belt and the two of them rose together, upward and out of sight.

I know there were dozens of reassurances coming out of my mouth, more hand-squeezing on Harvey's end and lots of promises on mine: I would call him if I ran into trouble. Bruce would call if he ran into any trouble. We would not suffer in silence if anything happened that we couldn't handle. And the irony of saying _that_ as I looked out the window and saw this red and blue streak with a little green dimple on the bottom disappearing on the horizon: Superman himself was escorting Eddie off the property, but there I was promising Harv that I'd be sure to let him know if we had a problem we couldn't handle ourselves. The reassurances (and the hand-squeezing) were repeated each step of the way getting Harvey out of the house: in the drawing room, in the hallway, in the foyer, and finally outside the front door as his waiting cab pulled up to collect him. Getting rid of an unwanted suitor should be half as much trouble as getting rid of Harvey Dent in big brother mode.

All I wanted after that was a kiss and a cuddle with Bruce until the sun went down, and then to slip into the catsuit for a good palate-cleansing prowl. Unfortunately, even without Referee Eddie's wild signals outside the window, there were still extra players on the field. When I got to the morning room, Spitcurl was back, and he and Dick were both talking to Bruce.

"Everybody who doesn't live here should leave," I said flatly.

Superman's earlier blink-of-an-eye transformation left me gasping. The change I saw now was less showy, but more endearing. There was no necktie or eyeglasses, he still wore the cape and tights, but it was suddenly Clark Kent standing there instead of Superman. It was the married man, not the superhero.

"I know that look," he said kindly. "Lois is 'having a day.'"

I offered a weary smile. He doesn't know much by Gotham standards, but he knows when to hold'em and when to fold'em.

"I'll bring the diamonds Monday," he said, heading for the door. "And large trees. Dick, come along. You've been married long enough to know the drill. Lois has had a day."

Dick glanced at him, glanced at the door, glanced at me, and then looked searchingly at Bruce.

"Yeah, ah, I'm just going to look for an empty parking lot somewhere and, ah, find some evidence."

"Good," Bruce said softly.

"Bye Selina," he said, passing me on his way to the door. "Wish I could stay but I've got to see a guy about a thing."

"Good," I murmured with a tiny smile.

Bruce watched him, a curious series of looks flickering in his eyes, one of those moments where you can almost see the mask on his face. He was considering something, considering it with that amazing intensity he can put into anything. Then, just as Dick reached the door, a decision:

"Thanks, Dick."

It was said very simply. Thanks, Dick. Nothing dramatic. Nothing extraordinary – coming from anybody other than Bruce.

Dick turned back, flushed, bumped his hand on the doorframe, swallowed, and then said, "Yeah thanks - I mean sure – I mean, uh, anytime. Anyways, gotta go see that guy about the thing."

He went. The door closed behind him. And that left us alone at last. Me. Bruce. And PsychoBat.

* * *

Raven never considered herself a _romantic_. She didn't go for chick flicks. She didn't read romance novels. She would never understand grown women who wallowed in the dewy-eyed fantasies she'd outgrown in high school. She did have a weakness for men making a gesture after a breakup. Someone like Jonathan Crane giving her an out-of-print book of Portuguese fairy tales because it was "a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore." That got to her. So she'd gone back to him and they'd had another few weeks together before saying their final goodbyes. Leland coming to the Iceberg struck the same chord. She couldn't brush aside a man like Leland Bartholomew coming to a club most Gothamites considered a den of criminal intrigue. He knew the place was filled with past and future Arkham patients, yet in he came and made a spectacle of himself pleading his case. She was moved, who wouldn't be? What must he feel, how strongly must he feel to make a scene like that? So she agreed to get back together, or at least to give him another chance; she'd gone back to his house to cook a special dinner with him on her night off, although none of the issues behind the breakup were resolved.

It was awkward. He talked about work while they were cutting up plantains – and work was Joker. His going back to Arkham to treat Joker was the real issue that split them up. When she talked about work it was light Iceberg gossip. But Leland's sweeping condemnations, the way Arkham passed patients through the fast-track rehabilitation program and his special resolve to not let "Patient R" (obviously Roxy Rocket) slip through without making true progress at each level. Raven couldn't help but worry they would never see Roxy again!

They fried the plantains in canola oil and Raven continued to worry. If Leland's approach caught on, what would happen to the Iceberg? All the regulars went into the asylum at some point, but they always came back out again. If that were to change… Of course, hard times for the Lounge was more Oswald's problem than hers. He would never close the doors completely, and if he cut back on staff, some jobs were absolutely secure no matter what. Raven's was one of them. She would still have a job, but the conversation with Leland still made her feel funny. The way he was talking about Rogues as if they were specimens in a jar… But then, she and the waitresses talked about Rogues as a separate species too, especially when they'd tip in— bananas! They needed fresh nutmeg and allspice for the bananas foster.

Raven found the small grater and expertly ground up spices for the rich dessert while Leland measured out the rum – and went on (and on) about his guilt over the Roxy situation. Their romance had set off a Joker-beating, and that was apparently putting him off his game as a… well, as a _lover_, although that hardly seemed the right word to use when they hadn't had sex yet. And what did he expect, anyway? That's what Raven really wanted to ask: what did Leland expect going back to Arkham that way? You spend enough time with that crowd, you're going to set off a few Joker beatings, _everybody_ knew that. She'd done it once when she bought a car! She didn't even mention it to the patrons. She told Gina in the washroom, Gina apparently told Harley and Harley told Joker. Something about it being a yellow Saturn bothered him, so he squirted Harley with his acid flower, stabbed a Ghost Dragon with a broken beer bottle, and hit Maxie Zeus with a chair…

Okay, sirloin with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, fried plantains, green salad, and bananas foster. Once they sat down to dinner, it got better. The food was good. But the conversation still turned strange here and there. Raven felt she was living a repeat of Jonathan Crane, Frank Picalone, and Toby Morse. She'd been moved by a gesture, and she'd gone back to a relationship that was already heading south.

Accepting that their remaining time together was limited, Raven decided to spice things up. After all, if it was only to be another few weeks, they may as well enjoy it. It was definitely time for sex – past time in fact. At first she found it refreshing, the slower approach of an older man. He didn't try to jump her bones at every opportunity. It was nice, she told herself. He was old-fashioned, she told herself. He was a gentleman, she told herself. But now… It didn't seem like "telling herself" anymore, it seemed like she was making excuses for him. Why wasn't he even trying?

After dinner she'd find out. After dinner… Didn't that show say bananas foster was an aphrodisiac?

* * *

Back in the day, weeks could pass between Bat-encounters. I didn't admit it back then, but I looked forward to them. Anticipation was part of the fun. A new Bast statuette at the museum, Batman would have to know I'd try for it so there was a good chance I'd be seeing that a pointy-eared shadow rising ominously over the display case– Meow. When the moment finally came, it was usually all I'd hoped for. Meow. Sometimes it was better. _ Meow_. But sometimes… well… everybody has an off night now and then.

The weirdest one I remember was right after he'd reclaimed his mantle from AzBat. The Batman I knew had disappeared, nobody knew what really happened, if he was badly hurt or even dead. That awful imposter had shown up in his place and the whole town was going to hell. And then, miraculously, the real Batman returned. I was in on the big throwdown when he gave Az his walking papers, so I can't blame it on surprise or shock. I knew he was alive. I knew he was back in action. And I knew there was a better than even chance if I went after a newly discovered frieze of Pharaoh Akhenaten petting a cat, that he would be there to stop me. He was. I'd been living for the moment I heard that voice again, when it would be just him and me, and some prize to win or lose, a trinket we could both pretend was the real reason for the encounter. But when the moment finally came – **_"The museum is closed, Catwoman"_** – I froze up. The banter didn't come. I know I said _ something_, but it wasn't light or witty. And the fight was… awkward. I wasn't holding back, but I was self-conscious. What's worse, I think he knew… It was impossibly uncomfortable but it didn't last, everything was back to normal by the end of the week. There was a Japanese scroll of a tiger at Gallery Blu, a very physical tussle on the roof, and a lingering caress inside a shi-shi pin while I felt his very hot breath on my cheek. It was all back to normal in a week, but at the time, in that one moment I'd been waiting for …**_"The museum is closed, Catwoman…"_**

That's exactly how it felt in the morning room. I'd wanted to get every last crazy out of the house – all of them – Rogues past and present, Crimefighters, and even Butlers – and just have Bruce to myself for a few hours. Now, at last, here we were. (**_"The museum is closed, Catwoman_**") And it felt strained and awkward and wrong.

"Well… I got tigers," I said mildly.

Psychobat just glared.

"Oh, and Eddie is in love with me," I added.

He raised an eyebrow.

"That's what Harvey wanted?"

"Yep."

He shook his head.

"I don't think I want to know. In fact, I _know_ I don't want to know," he glowered.

"Here I thought you knew everything," I said, trying for a smile.

He grunted.

"Some things I wish I didn't," he said. He made a half-hearted attempt at a lip-twitch, and the room sank into another heavy silence.

(**_"The museum is closed, Catwoman_**")

"What did Spitcurl do with Eddie?" I asked suddenly.

"Dropped him off 10 miles from anywhere. He'll have a nice long stroll to rethink 'playing around Batman's house' as a viable way to spend his free time."

"Do you have to look at it that way?" I sighed. "He wasn't playing around Batman's house, he came to see _me_. You just happen to be here."

"I know for a fact that Edward Nigma knows how to use a telephone," he said acidly.

"So does Spitcurl," I pointed out.

He started to reply, then sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Can we not talk about this now? Can we just sit and enjoy the quiet for a little while?"

"Sure."

There followed a minute and a half of not very enjoyable quiet. But then, while I was trying to remember what I actually said that night in response to "the museum is closed," an interesting thing happened. Whiskers trotted into the room and started head-bumping Bruce's leg. He looked down, said "You know you're not supposed to be in here, right little guy?"_ while picking him up,_ and started scratching behind his ears like he knew Whiskers's favorite spot.

Then he looked over at me.

"I have some work to finish up on the Dhumavati before closing the case. Care to join?"

* * *

It was fair to say Leland Bartholomew was terrified. He wasn't afraid of sex, not the way Freud meant it. Not the way Adler, Stekel or Jung meant it either. He was afraid the way Harold Watts was afraid. Nice chap, Harold, his first patient in private practice, a pediatrician. Married at 24, widowed at 52, went on a date three years later, and came to Bartholomew in a state of abject terror when he realized he hadn't been with a "new" woman for thirty years. They had six different kinds of orgasms now, so said the cover of his daughter's Cosmo. At the time, Bartholomew thought little of it. He approached the problem like a therapist, not like a man. He approached it like a therapist who had a real diploma on his wall proving he had read enough books, written enough papers, and had enough professors tolerate his over-articulated, under-developed ideas long enough for him to receive a certain grade. He projected the expected aura of empathy and authority and offered up the obvious advice: acknowledge the anxiety and then dismiss it, trust the acceptance of a loving partner, remember that intimacy isn't confined to physical pleasure, and so on.

What bullshit! Why did Harold Watts even pay him for that session? He should have called Bartholomew a snot-nosed kid that had a lot to learn about being a man, punched him in the mouth, and dinged his fender on the way out of the parking lot just to demonstrate that a successful pediatrician in a paid-off Mercedes outranks a preachy child in a rusty Corolla with 80,000 in student loans and no understanding of the human condition!

In the years since Harold Watts failed to enlighten him about his shortcomings, Leland Bartholomew's social life had dwindled to that of a dyspeptic bachelor. His last sexual experience was… was… when the cable company renumbered the channels and he discovered HBO by accident. Then he watched MTV, once, and got _really_ scared.

But now… Now he had Raven and… well there was no mistaking the signals. Raven was expecting sex and if he didn't make a pass in the next 30 seconds it seemed as though she would actually jump on him. _Acknowledge the anxiety and then dismiss it – _Of all the idiocy students fresh out of the diploma mill had sputtered on their first jobs – _trust the acceptance of a loving partner _– what the hell did that even mean? It's not like he could just announce that he was "out of practice!"

It happened, he missed his cue.

The 30-second window opened and closed, and failing to receive the pass she wanted, Raven made it herself. She was unspeakably beautiful, young, uninhibited and…_flexible_… And she tasted like the bananas foster they'd made together… It was all a little too much for a man who'd seen fifty summers… It was clumsy, awkward… not in a good way… just…plain… bad… …And again… Leland missed his cue.

Leland muttered something about it 'having been a while.'

Raven said something about a famous Eddie Izzard quote.

Bartholomew didn't know who Eddie Izzard was, let alone what this "famous" quote could be. But he was sure it wasn't complimentary.

It freed him. His sexual performance had just been critiqued in a way he didn't even understand. It surpassed his worst fears – it surpassed anybody's worst fears. Having bombed as a lover, not only in the sheer godawfulness of his performance but in the resulting humiliation as well – she was young enough to be his daughter and she was quoting some rock star that he never even heard of and… and… he suddenly became completely uninhibited…

…it was true, there is none freer than he who has nothing left to loose…

…it was also true a man acquires a good deal of passion over the course of fifty summers…

…around midnight, Leland remembered he'd been to medical school…

…around two, Raven decided she was calling in sick tomorrow…

* * *

Oswald didn't get it. He simply didn't get it. Harvey and Eddie, back again. It was the third night this week. Each time they brought different women, each set lovelier and–kwak–more aristocratic than the last. He toddled out of his office for the customary introductions. Harvey's bird was called Binky, and Oswald bowed low and bestowed a gentlemanly kiss over the woman's bejeweled fingers. Eddie's escort was Bunny. And again Oswald bobbed and twitched his lips over the lady's extended wrist. He noted the cost of her bracelet, factored in the rings on the previous hand, and called for a bottle of bubbly to be sent to the table with his compliments-_kwak_. Much as it pained him to give away liquor, he felt clientele of this type must be encouraged in every way possible-kwakwakwak.

Harvey and Eddie had difficulty concealing their shock. Oswald sending a bottle was one thing, Sly bringing it to the table himself, that was really unprecedented. But it turned out the special attention was borne of practicality, not a special honor. Raven had called in sick (or as Oswald put it "let me down disgracefully at a most inopportune time"). Dove was covering her podium, and none of the Iceberg staff seemed to feel the groupie-waitress subbing for Dove could be trusted to pour champagne. While the wine flowed, Oswald shared his tale of woe: Raven never called in _ –kwak– _ never. Not even when Crane came in spraying his toxins to celebrate Druid Halloween, or that time Joker thought it would be funny to poison all the Ghost Dragons just to see how many times he could get the FOX affiliate to say 'Botulism' in one newscast. Never once did she call in sick. Now_ –kwak–_ she'd left him in a waitress short. _ –kwak–_ No one understood the special trials of being Oswald Cobblepot.

When the champagne was drunk, the women rose together, as if both were puppets attached to the same controlling mechanism. They walked this way, in perfect sync, to the powder room. By now, Harvey and Eddie were used to the maneuver.

"You're getting Bunny," Harvey guessed.

"WHY BE WRONGING LUST?" Eddie queried, anagramming the name. Adding under his breath, "The things I do for Kitty."

"You're holding up well," Harvey said encouragingly. "Be strong."

In his mind's eye, Eddie imagined the Batsignal altered to project a series of letters into the night sky, inviting all of Gotham to ponder the question: How is an automotive mishap like a deluded obsessive with a new delusion to obsess on?

Both are pronounced Dent.

Harvey was fixated – absolutely fixated – on the idea that Eddie was pining for Selina. No matter what Eddie said or did, nothing would convince him otherwise. He was snapping up every socialite that looked his way. Rather than be repulsed by this flagrant Don Juanism, Harvey thought he was a brave little soldier.

At least Harvey didn't know the secret. There should be some comfort in that. Eddie was still the first Rogue to know (barring Hugo, who didn't count, and Catwoman, whose manner of finding out did not reflect badly on Riddler's intellect or his stature as a villain, as he was quite sure he couldn't compete with her in that particular arena -nor would he wish to). So there was that small consolation: Even if Two-Face couldn't enlighten him on taking on Batman with that special knowledge of the man behind the mask, Riddler was still the first and only true Rogue to learn the truth. It should been good news. It should! Harvey clearly didn't know anything about Bruce Wayne other than he was with Selina… which is what led to this present absurdity. He was A THIEVES NO WIN ILL in love with Selina. So they kept doubling with all these women, Harvey determined to lift Eddie's spirits, and the ladies determined to "share his cab."

And still he couldn't get his Rogue-on.

One aborted robbery since he'd learned the secret. One. What do you get when you've solved the riddle of riddles? Fame? Victory? Power over the great Dark Knight? No. You get a recurring nightmare of your nose being smashed into a gloved fist, then hearing your own voice slurred with blood and snot whining that "that wasn't a stealing-the-Chinese-puzzlebox punch, that was a taking-Selina-to-the-opera punch."

Now there was the new nightmare. Selina hearing he was in love with her and showing up at his lair, not infuriated as you might expect, but amused as only Selina can be amused. There she stood, striking a pose in the doorway, all sleek and purple, just-ate-a-canary grin on her face – "Hello, Lover" – and he woke up screaming.

Not for the first time, Eddie considered moving to Metropolis. Their hero was a dullard. Their idea of pizza was a deep-dish concoction you had to eat with a knife and fork. And their newspaper's idea of a crossword was simply an offense to the intellect – six-letter word for "a challenging query" indeed! But still – "Hello, Lover" – he was considering it.

* * *

What was that phrase of Selina's? It seemed like a good idea at the time…

Bruce didn't want to talk about Nigma, tigers, or anything else connected to the day's visitors. He wanted it all to_ go away_ for a little while – but that did not mean he wanted Selina to go. He'd been cold and abrupt with her. The cat's entrance had reminded him just how comfortable their life together had become, how glad he was that she was there. He couldn't very well say that, so he said it a different way, inviting her to come with him to the cave and be a part of what he was doing next. He saw it as spending time together. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

He didn't realize… not until they got to the cave… She waved at Walapang – at the bat – the bat he specifically told her not to name but had somehow become 'Walapang' anyway. She waved to it. She thought it was cute. The _bat_. A bat in the very heart of the Batcave. The purest essence of that dark icon meant to instill fear in the hearts of criminals, Selina thought it was cute and waved at it. Impossible woman. Why didn't he realize…

They were in the Batcave. That alone made it hard to blot out thoughts of the safe. Making it worse, the work he had to complete was analyzing the dust and fragments of a cat's eye cabochon from the Dhumavati chalice. A cat's eye of an as-yet-unknown material he strongly suspected was kryptonite. He was becoming more and more annoyed with each passing minute – not at her – not even at him self – at the situation – a situation clawing at him like those damnable tigers, ripping into his flesh no matter what he did and pulling him into the one thing he most wanted to avoid.

"_Cat's eye kryptonite?_" Selina exclaimed when she heard what he was doing. "How is that possible? And if something like cat's eye kryptonite exists, why haven't I heard about it?"

He explained briefly how kryptonite sometimes fused with other materials after it fell to earth. In this case, some amount of ordinary green-K must have landed in a deposit of chrysoberyl, the material most cat's eye gems are made of. The kryptonite was subjected to the same heat and pressure as the material around it, forming a composite stone with the same tiny inclusions that produce the winking cat's eye effect in the regular stones. "The effect is called chatoyancy," he concluded – and Selina kissed his cheek as if he'd invented the concept just for her.

"Chatoyancy from the French," she purred. "_Chat_ meaning cat, and _oeil _meaning eye. I like the theory. So how do we find out for sure?"

Bruce said nothing. He was tempted to get the kryptonite ring from the safe; it was the obvious way to begin, comparing the cat's eye fragments visually with the known variety. But glancing at Selina, he didn't feel comfortable with the idea. It wasn't even the ring, just the act of going to the safe in front of her. Just the idea of opening it, of walking towards it… Instead, he punched a few keys emphatically on the keyboard at workstation 1… and even that had associations. Associations that caused his stomach to tighten.

He'd pulled up a voluminous file, which now displayed on the enormous viewscreen as well as the small workstation monitor. The chemical composition on every known type of K displayed in sequence, but it was another screen he was remembering. A blueprint he pulled up on this same workstation, with a conspicuous bat-emblem over the secret alcove with the secret safe, seeing it flicker in sync on the monitor and the overhead screen, praying Selina would notice the symbol and act…

He pushed the sick recollections from his mind and read.

Paging through screens of statistical and analytical data, Bruce regretted not having another physical sample. If he had even the smallest amount of kryptonite that wasn't in the ring… He remembered that Selina once mentioned having "a bead of kryptonite" from the old days. She said it was _a gift_ from Felix Faust, from the 'my wife doesn't understand me' era — and just what was meant by that was probably one of those things he was happier not knowing. She'd also said her bead of kryptonite was 'buried in one of the hell-mouth closets' which meant she probably couldn't get to it quickly, and even if she could, he wouldn't want to ask. It would only spark the question:

"Wouldn't it be easier to compare it to the ring?"

Damn her. She brought it up anyway. _Damn her_.

He muttered something about having all the data from that ring in the computer already. That should have been the end of it. It would have been with Dick, Tim, Alfred or even Clark. But not Selina. Of course, not with Selina.

"Is something wrong?" she asked pointedly. "Because you have that look. When we're slumming at the Iceberg and Joker walks in."

He started to speak, stopped, then started again.

"No, it's… just… the ring. Make sure that Clark doesn't know that you know about the kryptonite ring."

"He's already mentioned it," Selina said softly. "A ring you had, he said he was sure you went and put it in your belt that day he was here about mindwipe. I never knew what he meant until I opened that box."

Bruce bristled, sighed, and shook his head.

"Figures he would mention it. How that man has maintained a secret identity all these years…"

Again, that should have been the end of it. With Dick, Tim, with anybody else it would have been. But again, Selina had more to say.

"None of them know you as well as they think, in my opinion. You didn't put the ring in your belt that day. I was in the trophy room, I would have seen if you'd gone to the safe. You just went out for a breath of air."

It was said with love. Selina didn't consider him a raving paranoid like _SOME_ so-called friends and colleagues, and she was letting him know that. But all Bruce could see was her flaunting her special knowledge: she knew about the safe, knew about the ring, and knew him better than anyone in the world.

"The ring is irrelevant," he snapped. "Everything I could glean from it is already in the computer… Let's just drop it, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a sharp breath. "I thought it would be easier to look at the real thing than comparing graphs and wavy lines, I'm sorry… Now, how long are we going to not think about pink elephants?"

"What?" he sputtered.

"First upstairs we 'just drop' Eddie, now we're 'just dropping' Clark. The boys are over-Zoggered, you're protesting _way too much_ about missing the opera. Seems to me we're back to not thinking about pink elephants, and I'm just asking how long. A week, a month? Just so I can plan my schedule. Our record is eight and a half years, Bruce. I really hope it's not going to be one of those 'cause I'm not as young as I used to be."

"What's gotten into you?"

"Fine, You're not saying; I'll live in suspense. For an indeterminate period of time, there are no pink elephants."

"Selina."

"Anywhere."

"Selina!"

"No mauve ones either, just to be safe."

"You going to come back like this every time you go out with Nigma?"

"Are there any other improbably colored species you would like to nullify from existence while you're at it?"

"At the moment, I could do without purple cats!"

For a long moment neither spoke. There was a faint hum from the overhead monitor and a fainter scratching from the bat Walapang rubbing his wing against a stalactite.

"I'm glad you think this is cute," Bruce said at last, a grim finality replacing the usual bat-gravel. "Now, as much as I know you love playing with your toy, do you think you could you possibly let me get back to work without getting on my casefile— case. Without you getting on my case?"

Selina took a deep breath. When she spoke, it was with a cool, deliberate control measuring out each word.

"I don't think it's cute at all, Bruce. And I have _ never_ considered_ you in pain_ to be _entertainment_. I did hope if I pushed you hard enough…"

"That what, I'd snap?" he cut in angrily. "That's just it, Selina. I said I didn't want to talk about it right now, but you just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? No, you had to keep prodding and jabbing, wearing me down, until what? I finally give in and give you what you want? Is that how it works now?"

"It seems like everything leads back to _it_ no matter what I say or don't say, do or don't do. It also seems like whatever _it_ is, it's getting _worse_. So yes, Bruce, I'm pushing and prodding and jabbing and refusing to _ignore_ the fact that a pink elephant has come among us. But just for the record, this isn't 'what I want. ' I don't _want_ to get into _any_ of this! I would love nothing better than to shove it all in the closet and forget it ever existed. But… But one of the things I want to shove in the closet and forget is a world where this kind of thing was shoved in a closet and forgotten. I don't know everything that happened there but I know it went on too long, a pink elephant was left to… _fester_ or something… until, finally, you told me to leave. I woke up in the back room of the fucking Iceberg and Ivy had my sapphire—"

"Sapphire? Selina, what are you talking about? Wait, you think this is…" he trailed off, his head reeling. "This has nothing to do with the dimension hopping," he said finally. "I know that you will tell me - or not tell me - whenever you feel you can… I'd like the same consideration."

Selina shook her head.

"You're not listening – or not understanding. I _am_ telling you. One of those worlds, you'd thrown me out. Something was left unsaid for too long. It scares me. Bruce, I don't want that to happen with us. If you need time, then take it. "

She stared at him for a moment, then added, "Just don't take too much."

* * *

© 2006 Chris Dee

-- — -- — -- -- — -- — -- -- — -- — --  
It's a milestone for any comic or comic-related serial, and in 2007 we reach it.  
**Cat-Tale #50**

Theories have been tossed around since #47 as to what I might be planning and, since it a January is before us, if a Hell Month could be involved or if the pendulum will swing back into a farce of hitherto unknown zaniness in the Catverse...

I'm not telling.  
But I will hide a link to the cover somewhere in the many Cat-Tales extras.  
Those who simply have to know, happy hunting.  
-- — -- — -- -- — -- — -- -- — -- — --


End file.
